Samurai Ranger High
by bandgeek18
Summary: The rangers notice the nighlocks watching a school. So Ji sends them in as students to find out what. What they discover inside will change everything.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own them they belong to Saban

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter One: A Not So Great Surprise

A/N: This is my first fanfic, so please review it. Also rating might go up, not sure yet.

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

The samurai sat in the living room. They had noticed Deker hanging around a local private school lately and wanted to find out why. Mentor Ji had said he had a surprise for them that would solve the problem. "Alright," he said. "We still have no idea what Deker's renowned interest in the school is, but I have come up with a solution."

"What is it?" Jayden asked.

"We need to get inside and find out. We need someone, or someone's, to go in a look around. So..."

"This is going in a very bad direction," Antonio said.

"You seven will be those someone's."

"I knew it."

Jayden looked at Lauren. She was staring at Ji like he has just suggested they hand Antonio over to the nighlocks. "Are you serious?" She asked.

"Very," he said. "Lauren you're the oldest and you're only 19. All of you can blend in perfectly."

"I'm not so sure that's the right use of the word," Jayden said.

"This plan will work. You've been enrolled already. Tomorrow you'll all start at Sanford Academy."

"Don't we get a say?" Mike asked.

"No."

The rangers got up and left the living room.

Kevin sat on his bed. Mike slumped against the wall. "You're not excited, are you?"

"School is evil. It's like a prison. They keep you locked up for 6 hours a day, teaching things that you're probably never going to use."

"Why am I not surprised this your opinion?"

"Come on, you can't tell me you honestly liked school?"

Kevin shrugged. "It wasn't that bad. It just wanted to get out so I could go swimming."

"That doesn't surprise me."

"It really shouldn't. Just remember it could be worse."

"How?"

"You could be Jayden or Lauren. They've never been to school before."

"Lucky them."

"Emily don't worry. Everything's going to be fine," Mia said.

Emily sat on across from heron the bed. "You don't know that. This could be really... I don't know."

" What are you worried about? Technically you're still in high school."

"No, I earned my diploma a month ago."

"We'll, this should be easy then."

Jayden paced back in forth in his room. _What is Ji thinking? I've never been to school before. I don't know anything about it. Nether does Lauren. _He walked out and knocked on Antonio's door.

"Come in," he said. Jayden walked in. He found Antonio sitting on his bed with Lauren sitting next to him. "Hey Amigo, what's up?"

"I wanted to talk to you."

"About what?"

"The whole school thing."

Antonio smiled. "Join the club. Grab a seat." Jayden sat down on the other end of the bed. "I was just giving Lauren a few pointers on how to survive tomorrow."

"I could use some of those."

"It's really simple. Just don't get in any fights. Believe me this is a situation where walking away is going to be your best option. Try to blend in. Believe it or not you two can act normal."

"Normal?" Lauren asked. "What about us is remotely normal? Our family, or our upbringing?"

"Acting normal is possible. Just don't talk about samurai stuff. Talk about books and movies. We've been to the movies before. Just don't be too shy or you'll find yourself prey."

"To who?"

"Someone with a lot of muscles that you could take down in a matter of minutes. I'm serious, you guys will be fine. Besides, you have all of us to watch your backs."

"This still feels like a bad idea."

"Don't worry. This'll be easier than taking out moogers."

_I'd rather take the moogers,_ Jayden thought.


	2. Morning Before the First Day

Chapter 2: Morning Before The First Day

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a text that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Thanks for the reviews and follows! Here's the next chapter! Oh, and I forgot to mention the parings before. They are Antonio/Lauren, Mike/Emily, Kevin/OC, Mia/OC, and Jayden O/C.

The next morning Jayden looked at himself in the mirror. He was wearing gray slacks, a light blue polo shirt, and a red tie. He frowned, then shrugged and went to go eat breakfast. He found Antonio, Kevin, and Mike already there.

"This outfit doesn't have enough green," Mike mumbled.

"It doesn't have any green," Kevin said.

"Exactly." Jayden smiled. He looked at Antonio who was staring off into space, nibbling on a granola bar.

"Antonio. Antonio!" he said. The gold ranger snapped out of his daze. Jayden laughed. "Welcome back to Earth. We missed you."

"Speak for yourself," Mike said.

"Sorry," Antonio mumbled.

"What were you thinking about?" Jayden asked.

"Nothing."

_He really is a horrible liar. Never mind. I'll have Lauren get it out of him later._

The girls came in dressed in the same uniform as the boys, except they didn't have ties. Lauren smiled. "We'll don't you boys look handsome?"

"But I look the handsomest," Antonio said as she sat next to him.

"Of course," she answered, kissing him. Mike made a face.

"Can you guys not make out when we're trying to eat please?"

"Sorry," Lauren said.

"I'm not," Antonio said smiling.

Mike shook his head, Kevin laughed.

Jayden finished the last of his cereal while Antonio started his second granola bar. Emily and Mia were each eating a piece of toast. Jayden watched his friends. He could tell they were all nervous. Mike wasn't joking around like he usually did.

"Hey Jayden," Kevin said. "What if there's a nighlock attack while we're...in school."

"As usual, Jii is one step ahead of us. We're going to set up our doubles to handle any attacks."

"This is pretty serious, huh?" Emily asked.

Lauren nodded. "The nighlocks like to destroy buildings, they've never watched one before."

Mia looked up. "My question is, if there's something in there they want, why do they wait? Why not just storm the school and take it?"

"Your guess is as good as ours," Jayden said. "There could be guardians or spells protecting whatever it is."

"So in reality, this plan is our best shot?" Mike asked.

Jayden nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

They continued in silence. Just as their final bites were eaten Ji came in. "Ready to go?" He asked them.

"Ready is not the word I would use," Jayden mumbled.

He picked up his new red bag. He looked inside real quick and saw his school supplies were all in there. Lauren also had a red bag. Mia had a pink bag with a blue flower on the front. Emily's was yellow with a rainbow on the front. Kevin's bag was blue, Mike's was green, and Antonio's was gold.

"At least our bags don't look stupid," Kevin said.

"Yeah," Mike said sarcastically. "Cause with these outfits it's impossible to look stupid."

"Hey," Antonio said, "I make everything look good."

"Absolutely," Lauren said.

Antonio put his arm around her as they walked out of the house. Jayden was resisting the urge to laugh.

"Antonio is the poster child for confidence," Emily said as they walked out.

"Actually he's the poster child for big-headedness," Mike corrected.

Jayden started laughing. "I think your both right, though Lauren might disagree with Mike."

Once in the yard they proceeded to use their symbol power to male doubles.

Ji stopped them before they left. "Remember," he said. "Blend in and make friends. Your jobs is to act as normal as possible. Keep your eyes peeled for anything suspicious. Oh, and don't get into trouble," he added looking at Mike.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Got it," Jayden said.

Ji nodded. "Good luck then."

The rangers left the house. The school was close enough that they could walk. Mike considered making an escape, but with Emily hanging off of his arm, escape was impossible. Antonio and Lauren held hands as they walked. Antonio was content enough that he could've walked like this with her all day.

The walk was only about 30 minutes, but they were samurai, a little walking wasn't so bad.

"Good thing it isn't raining," Kevin remarked.

When they arrived at the school Jayden felt his stomach drop to somewhere around his feet. They walked through the iron gate of the school grounds. There were multiple buildings all over the campus and wall surrounded it.

"Told you it was a prison," Mike said.

They walked past groups of kids that were talking and relaxing before school started. No one seems to notice the rangers as they passed, which made Jayden feel a little better that he wasn't sticking out yet. They approached the main building and sat on the steps. Antonio felt Lauren's hand tighten around his. He gave her a reassuring squeeze. She smiled at him.

Kevin watched all the kids. A couple of them were throwing a football around. One guy tackled another, then tripped someone else almost immediately after.

"You know," Mike remarked, "I don't know football to well, but I'm pretty sure your not supposed to do that."

Kevin nodded. _That football guy looks like someone to avoid._ He glanced at Antonio. He could tell the gold ranger was thinking the same thing.

After what felt like an eternity the bell rang. People started going inside. The rangers got up. Jayden looked at them all, then turned around and took a deep breath and led them into the building.

Please review!


	3. Beginning the Day

Chapter 3: Beginning The Day

_Italic indicates though_t

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all the reviews and follows. You guys are absolutely awesome! Here's the next chapter!

In the main building they looked around. "Where's the main office?" Mike asked.

Antonio pointed with his free hand. "I'm guessing that big arrow-sign that says "main office" is a good clue."

Jayden smiled as they walked to the office. Inside there were two desks. One of the secretaries looked up from her typing. "Can I help you?" She asked.

"Uh...yeah. We're new here..."

"Oh, yes. Let me see." She pulled out a pile of papers and flipped through them. "Ok, let's see here...Mia Cerbat" Mia reached forward and took her schedule. "Antonio Garcia. Mike Lander. Kevin Michaels. Jayden Shiba. Lauren Shiba. These are your schedules. There are student aids who will show you to you first class. After that just ask someone and I'm sure anyone will be happy to help you. Your lunches are written on there, along with your locker numbers and combinations. Just have a seat out there," she gestured to seats out in the hall next to the office, "and they'll be here shortly."

"Thank you," Jayden said as they left. They sat down in the chairs. Jayden looked over his schedule. P1. English Language and Composition; P2. PE; P3. World Politics; P4. Chemistry; P5. FST; P6. Creative Writing. Jayden looked at Kevin. "What do you have?"

"Uh...Physics, biology, world history, FST, Philosophy, and Sociology: power of words. What the heck is that?"

"I don't know," Jayden said looking at the schedule. "But we have PE and FST together. What's FST? "

"Functions, statistics, and trigonometry. Basically the modern form of Medieval torture."

"You have nothing to complain about," Antonio said.

"Why? What do you have?"

"Calculus!"

"Haha," Kevin laughed. "What are your other classes?"

"Marine Biology, PE, English 4, Computer Engineering, and Italian."

"Italian? You mean as like a foreign language?"

"Apparently. Should be easy though. Spanish and Italian are very similar."

"How about you Mike?" Jayden asked.

"Algebra 2, Forensics, Video Programming, PE, Spanish, and English 3."

"You're taking Spanish?" Antonio asked.

"Apparently."

"What are you taking, Lauren?"

"U.S. History, Psychology, Astronomy, Government, Calculus, and Japanese."

"You're taking Japanese?!" Kevin asked. "Isn't that kind of cheating?"

"No. I can write and read Japanese, not speak it. So technically, it's not cheating. Cheating would be Antonio taking Spanish."

"You've got a point there."

" What about you, Emily?"

"Art, Music, PE, Geometry, Foreign Culture: Mexico, and Earth Science."

"Earth samurai taking earth science," Mike said.

Emily elbowed him. Jayden looked at Mia. "How about you Mia?"

"Culinary Arts, Early Childhood Education, FST, Biology, Atronomy, and Film Appreciation."

"You're taking a cooking class?!" Mike asked suddenly alarmed.

"I really hope she won't burn down the school," Kevin whispered to Antonio who nodded.

"I'll be great at it," Mia said smiling.

"Of course," Kevin said.

Jayden looked down the hall and saw two kids approaching them. One was a boy and one was a girl. The boy had shaggy blonde hair and the girl had black hair.

"Hi," the girl said. "My name is Ashley. I'm supposed to show Emily to class."

"That's me," Emily said standing up. Ashley shook her hand. "Hi Emily."

"I'm Brad," the boy said. "I'm supposed to show Mike to class."

"That would be me," Mike said standing up.

"We'll, we should get going," Ashley said. She and Brad led Mike and Emily down the hall. Emily looked back and waved at them.

"They seem nice," Mia remarked.

"They seem creepy," Kevin said.

Another girl came down an opposite hall. "Hi, my name is Liz, I'm supposed to show Mia to class."

"I'm Mia," Mia said standing up.

"Hi," Liz said shaking Mia's hand. "Follow me." Mia turned back and waved at them.

"Now she seems nice," Kevin said.

Another boy was coming down the hall. He was Hispanic with black hair. "Hey. Which one of you is Antonio?"

Antonio stood up. "That would be me."

"

"Hola, mi nombre Andre y estoy aqui ayudar tú." (Hi, my name is Andre and I'm your student aid.)

"Cool. Mucho gusto.." (Cool. Nice to meet you.)

"Aye, hablas español también?" (Hey, you speak Spanish too?)

"Sí." (Yeah)

"Sweet. We'll be great friends. Well, follow me."

Antonio left with Andre, the two of them chatting away in Spanish.

"I swear, drop Antonio in the middle Antarctica and he'll still find a way to make friends," Kevin said.

Jayden nodded. _Wish I knew how to make friends as well as Antonio does._

As Antonio and Andre reached the end of the hall a girl and a guy came around the corner. Kevin nudged Jayden. "Check it out. Here comes Football-guy." Indeed it was. When he got closer Jayden discovered Football-guy had dark brown or black hair and coffee colored eyes. He was clearly fit and string. His companion on the other hand, was a girl.

She had brown hair that was in a braid that came to the middle of her back. Her welcoming smile reached her blue eyes. There was something familiar about that smile...Jayden looked at Lauren and saw the same look of slight confusion and fascination on her face. Football-guy cleared his throat.

"I assume that you're Lauren," he said to Lauren.

"Yeah, I am," she said standing up.

"We'll, class is this way," he said, casting a sly glance at Jayden and Kevin, before leading Lauren off down the hall.

The red and blue samurai gave each other looks. _What was that about?_ The girl smiled at them. "Hi, my name is Tiara. You guys must be Jayden and Kevin." She had a slight Asian accent.

They stood up. "My name is Jayden, he's Kevin," Jayden said. Tiara shook both their hands. "We'll, we better get moving. What are your first classes?"

"English Language and Composition," Jayden said.

"Physics," Kevin said.

"Alright then, looks like your first Kevin. Come on, this way." They started walking down a hallway. They were lockers on ether side of them as they went. "So, where are you guys from?"

"Panorama High School," Kevin answered, naming the school he used to attend.

"Cool. What about you Jayden?"

"Uh...I was homeschooled."

"Sounds like fun. I'm new here myself. Just started a couple weeks ago."

"Where did you go before?" Jayden asked hoping to keep the attention off himself.

"Azabu High School."

"I never heard of it," Kevin said.

"That's because it's in Japan. My dad's a U.S. Ambassador. I've been living abroad for ten years. The two of us lived all over Asia. I've been to schools in, China, South Korea, Russia, Mongolia, Thailand, Burma, and Japan."

"Wow," Kevin said, "that's impressive."

"Thank you," she said. They stopped at a door. "This is you class Kevin. Good luck."

"Thanks," he said. He gave Jayden a look, wishing him luck, then went into the classroom. Tiara led Jayden down the hall, around the corner, up a flight of stairs, and around another corner to his classroom.

"Here we are," she said. "English Lang. and Comp. Best of luck to ya."

"Thank you Tiara," Jayden said.

"Anytime."

Jayden put his hand on the door handle, took a deep breath, then walked onto the classroom.

A/N: I did my best to think of classes. Please review it is greatly appreciated! :)


	4. Jayden's First Class

Chapter 4: Jayden's First Class

_*Italic indicates thought_

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: sup guys? Please note that I'm only a freshman in high school, so I might not go into super detail with the information on what they're learning, and I'm trying to get all the facts right. Here's the next chapter!

As soon as he entered the room all eyes trained on him. He immediately felt nervous. _They can tell..._ The teacher looked at him.

"Can I help you?" He asked Jayden.

"Uh...yeah. I'm new here and...this is my class."

"Excellent," the teacher responded. "My name is Mr. Jillsen. Just grab a textbook," he gestured to a shelf in the back of the room where there was a bunch of textbooks all lined up. "And grab an empty seat."

Jayden walked over to the shelf and grabbed a book, then proceeded to an empty seat. Most kids had already turned back to the front, but a few of them continued to watch him. He sat down in a seat that was sort of in the middle of the class room. He stole a quick glance around him. _At least no one is staring at me anymore._

"Alright then," Mr. Jillsen said. "We are moving on to page 54 in your books." Jayden opened his book. The heading said 'Persuasive Essay Composition.' "Now who can tell me what one of the first things we need to write our essays?"

Several students raised their hands. The teacher looked around. "Hmm...Jayden?"

Jayden was shocked. He hadn't even raised his hand. "Um...a hook?"

"Yes, very good." Jayden felt relieved. He'd always been more focused on his samurai training and less on his academics, consequently only doing a few hours of school work a day. A hook was one of the few things he knew about writing essays. "Now," Mr. Jillsen said continuing the lesson, "What is the next thing we need?"

A few hands went up, Jayden's was not one of them. "Hmm...Jayden?"

Again Jayden was confused. "Uh..." He struggled to remember anything that might help him. "Uh...what the essay's going to be about?"

"Which is called a..."

"Uh...I don't know," he admitted.

"Would anyone like to help him?" A girl raised her hand. "Yes, Isabelle."

"A thesis."

"That is correct. Now after that, what do we need to complete our opening paragraph?" This time no hands went up. "Jayden?"

Jayden was starting to wonder if this teacher was a nighlock in disguise. "Uh..." Now he was really stumped. "Uh...a transition sentence?"

"Yes, exactly. Now, when writing the thesis it is important to remember to mention all of your points briefly to fully allow the reader to grasp the concept. Now then..."

_He sure uses the word now a lot._ Jayden thought.

"When we write a persuasive essay, it is important to back up your position. So, for your essays you will be writing about whether or not foreign language should be a requirement to graduate from school, and I want you to draw on your own experiences to answer it."

_I'm doomed._ Jayden thought.

"Also, you will be ready these in front of the class." Jayden paled. The kid next to him face-palmed. "Now you have," he looked at the clock, "30-20 minutes left of class to start brainstorming." As soon as he said this kids started talking to the people next to them. Jayden started brainstorming ideas on a piece of paper.

"Hey, new kid," the girl behind him said. He turned around. She had blonde hair with pink highlights and red colored contacts. "What's your name?"

"Jayden," he answered carefully.

"I'm Lorrie. Where are you from?"

"I was homeschooled."

"Lucky. Don't worry about Jillsen, he always picks on new kids. He was just trying to figure out how much you know. He'll stop after a little bit."

"You sure?"

"Definitely. I've taken this class twice now and he always does this."

Jayden decided not to ask how she managed to take the class twice. He looked at his blank piece of paper. _Figures something like this would happen to me._

"So what's your next class?" Lorrie asked.

"Uh...P.E."

"Oh, that's in the gym. Just go down the hall to the right, then turn left, then go down the stairs. Once your outside just go to the health and fitness building."

"Thanks," Jayden said.

"No problem."

Jayden spent the rest if class trying to figure out what he was going to put in this essay. He was relieved when the bell rang. He decided to hunt down his locker before his next class. He followed the numbers on them until he reached his. He somehow managed to get it open, only to discover someone had written some colorful words on the inside. He put his book on the shelf inside, then made his way to gym class.

_Wonder how everyone else's classes went_.

Please review. Pretty, pretty please!


	5. Kevin's First Class

Chapter 5: Kevin's First Class

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a text that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: sup guys? Please note that I'm only a freshman in high school, so I might not go into super detail with the information on what they're learning, and I'm trying to get all the facts right. Here's the next chapter!

Kevin walked into his class, shutting the door behind him. The first thing he noticed was the posters of roller coasters on the wall. 'Interesting...' He walked up to the teacher how was wetin gal etching at his desk in the front of the room.

"Can I help you." he asked looking up.

"My name is Kevin. I'm in this class."

"I suspect you're new."

"We'll, yes. I am."

"We'll then, just grab a seat in group," he looked at a piece of paper, "uh...3, and they'll fill you in with what were doing." He nodded to a group of 3 kids in the back corner of the class room.

"Ok," Kevin said. He walked over to his new group. He sat down in a seat.

"Hi," said a girl. She had ginger hair and green eyes, with a few freckles on the bridge of her nose. "I'm Hayley."

"I'm Kyle," said the only boy, who was Asian with black hair and glasses.

"I'm Brooke," the last girl said. Brooke was African-American with her black hair in a ponytail.

"I'm Kevin," he said. "So, what exactly are we doing?"

"We are doing a momentum worksheet," Hayley said handing Kevin the group's extra one. "Mr. Small likes to have us work in groups for everything."

"So don't worry, we'll catch you up," Brooke said.

"So," Kyle said, steering the group back on track. "What happens if an object moving forward at x miles per hour is thrown backwards at the same speed?"

"It would drop straight to the ground," Brooke said. "The two momentum s would cancel each other out."

"But would it work in real life?" Kevin asked.

"Of course it would," said Hayley. "Haven't you ever watched Mythbusters?"

Kyle shook his head. "Right...but this is just supposed to be a thought experiment."

"I am thinking, but it can doesn't hurt to say that this does actually work. If anything it proves the laws physics are real."

"Moving on," Kyle said.

"Ok," Brooke said. "Calculate the momentum of a 11.35kg wagon rolling down a hill at 12 m/s."

The three of them started working on the problem. Kevin had never been very good at physics. He looked near the top of the paper and noticed the equation. 'Wonderful.' He began to work on the problem. He was only halfway through when Kyle finished.

"I'm done, how about the rest of you?"

"Done," Hayley said putting her pencil down.

"Done," Brooke said. Kyle looked at Kevin.

"Uh...I'm not done..."

"Go ahead and finish," Kyle said. Kevin searched for any traces of annoyance or something in his voice or face, but there wasn't any. Kevin hurried to finish the problem.

"Ok, done," he said.

"Ok," Hayley said. "I got 136.2 kg x m/s down the hill."

"Same here," said Brooke.

"Me too," said Kyle. He looked at Kevin.

"Uh...I got the wrong answer, I think."

"What did you do wrong?" Kyle asked. He looked at Kevin's paper. "Oh, I see. You're multiplication is wrong. See here," he pointed to Kevin's paper. "That should be a 3, not a 2. The rest of it is fine."

"Thanks," Kevin the rest of class their group worked on the paper. They were finished early, so they just chilled until the bell.

"Looks like you're having a bit of trouble," Brooke said to Kevin.

"Yeah...I'm not very good at physics."

She nodded. "Well if you want I can tutor you sometime before or after-school."

"Really?"

"Sure. I'd be glad to. What's your next class."

"P.E.," he said looking at his schedule.

"Me too. I'll show you how to get there," she said.

The bell rang and students began filing out the door. Kevin followed Brooke. He was happy he would be seeing Jayden and Antonio next class.

Momentum problem and answer provided by .edu. Also, I don't own Mythbusters ether. Please review!


	6. Lauren's First Class

Chapter 6: Lauren's First Class

_*Italic indicates thought_

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: hey guys! Thank you soooo much for the reviews. They really make me happy! You guys are amazing! Here's the next chapter!

Lauren and Brett walked down the hallway. "So," Brett said. "What school are you from?"

"Actually I was homeschooled."

"Was one of these two jokers your brother or something?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Cool," he said. "I'm an only child."

"Really? Wow, what's it like?"

"Fun. You get all the attention and you never have to share your toys."

"Well, me and Jayden never really had any attention problems or sharing problems."

"Lucky." Brett seemed to be getting closer to her. She inched away from him a little after his hand brushed hers. They stopped at a door. "Well, here we are. Class, boring class."

Lauren smiled. "Thanks Brett."

"It was a pleasure," he said walking away.

Lauren walked into her class. There were 3 rows of tables with 4 tables in each row. There was only two kids at each table. She walked over to the teacher's desk. He looked up.

"Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Lauren and I'm new here..."

"Ah...of course. Well then, Lauren, my name is Mr. Crabb. Just grab a textbook off the shelf and sit over there," he gestured to an empty table. Lauren grabbed the textbook and sat down.

"Now," Mr. Crabb said standing up. "We will begin our unit on Greece today." There was a mixed reaction from the class. Some kids groaned, some looked excited, some were passive, and most were downright bored. "Don't get too excited. This is usually one of the harder ones. So, for those of you who care, this is page 120 in your books."

He turned around and began writing stuff on the board. Lauren noticed kids writing down stuff in their notebooks. She took a notebook out and began to copy what was on the board.

"Who can tell me the names of any Greek-city states? Any at all."

The door opened again and a girl came in. Lauren recognized her as the girl who was Jayden and Kevin's aid. "Sorry I'm late, Mr. Crabb. I was a student aid for a couple of new kids."

"I know Tiara, it's alright. Just get to your seat and start taking notes. We're starting in on Greece today." Tiara sat down next to Lauren and got out her notebook. She opened to a new page. Lauren smiled. _Her handwriting looks just like..._

"Back to my question," Mr. Crabb said, snapping Lauren back to attention, "name any Greek-city state. Anyone."

"Athens," someone in the back said.

"The Minoans," someone else said.

"The Mycenaeans," said another

"Sparta," Tiara said.

"Thebes," said a boy at the table next to them.

"Very good. Now, there is something all if these had in common, and no, AJ," he looked at the boy who had said Thebes, "it's not that they wee all Greek."

"But they were all Greek," AJ argued.

"I know that, but that's not the answer I'm looking for."

"But it is a correct answer though," he said.

The teacher sighed shaking his head. "Never mind. The answer I'm looking for is that they all cared about they city, more than the individual." He lectured and the class took notes. "Now," he said. "I want you to read the section in your book and answer the review questions. This is due at the end of class."

Lauren began to read the section in the book. She glanced over at Tiara. She was reading and taking notes as she did. Lauren noticed how well she concentrated on what she was reading despite the noise on the class.

"Wish they knew how to shut up," Tiara remarked.

"No kidding," Lauren said, not looking up from her work.

"So, did Brett show you how to get to class ok?"

"Yeah. Do you know him?"

"Yeah. He's my boyfriend."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He's a little rough around the edges, but once you get to know him he's actually a great guy."

"We'll he did seem really nice."

"So, where are you from Lauren?"

"I was homeschooled."

"Like Jayden? Are you guys related?"

"Yeah. He's my brother."

"Cool. I don't have any siblings."

Lauren let the conversation drop there and found herself pulled into Ancient Greece. Her regular eduction had never gone this far in depth, so it was nice to learn some new things. _I should look into going to school after the war is over._ When she finished the paper she turned it into the bin in the front of the room and went back to her desk. She looked at her schedule.

"What do you have next?" Tiara asked her.

"Phycology."

"With Dayley?"

"Uh..." Lauren saw the teachers name under the class name. "Yeah. Is he good?"

"He's ok, but he's better suited to teach college level courses than high school. He assigns so much homework, the other teachers complain because kids never have time to do work for other subjects."

Lauren smiled. "I'm sure he can't be that bad."

"Oh he is. Trust me."

"Hey, Tiara."

"Yeah?"

"You seem kind of...young to be in this class."

"I am. This is a senior class, but I'm a junior. I'm to advanced for 11th grade history."

"Wow. You must be a genius."

"No, I'm just good at studying."

"I think for a...how old are you?"

"16."

"I think for a 16 year old to take a senior class, you'd have to be pretty smart."

Tiara shrugged and started reading a book. Lauren smiled. _Being humble is a good quality to have._ Just then the bell rang. Lauren realized she had no idea where to go. "Hey Lauren," Tiara said. "Come on. This way. I'll show you to your next class. It's on the way to mine."

Lauren grinned and followed the younger girl down the hall.

I have a poll for this story that I would appreciate if you guys would take. It'll help me out when I wrote this story in the future. Thank you. Please review!


	7. Antonio's First Class

Chapter 7: Antonio's First Class

_*Italic indicates thought_

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: hey guys! Thanks for all the reviews. Please visit the poll of you haven't already, it will really help me out. Thanks!

"So where did you learn Spanish?" Andre asked him.

"My parents were always using it, and they encouraged me to use it when ever I could."

"Pretty sweet," Andre said. "So what school are you from?"

"Uh...Reefside High," Antonio said.

"Isn't Reefside like, 50 miles away?"

"Yeah. I move around a lot."

"Sounds like fun," he said. "Although, it would stink to be the new kid all the time."

"Yeah, it does," Antonio said truthfully.

The were turning the corner when they walked past a girl and a guy. Andre quickly pushed Antonio so they were on the other side of the hall.

"Hey, what was that about?"

"That's Brett," Andre said. "He's bad news. You want my advice? Just stay away from him."

"He can't be that bad."

"He is."

"What about the girl next to him?"

"You mean Tiara?" He smiled. "She's muy beautiful. She's smart, funny, kind, interesting, and she speaks eight languages."

"Sounds like you like her," Antonio teased.

"I do, but she's dating football-jerk face."

They reached the classroom. "Good luck," Andre said. "You'll need it."

"Why?"

"You'll see." Antonio opened the door and walked into the class. The students were sitting at tables. There were about four kids at each one, positioned so they were facing each other. The next thing that caught his eye was the fish skeletons that were everywhere. _This place is a graveyard_. The last thing that caught his eye, though it should have been the first thing, was the guy standing at the front with a bright orange shirt, a tie shaped like a salmon, and green slacks.

"May I help you?" He asked.

"I'm Antonio. I'm new and this is my first class."

The teacher smiled. "Ah excellent. Another young mind for me to corrupt," he said rubbing his hands like an evil villain. A couple kids rolled their eyes. "We'll, go ahead and join group Octopus," he pointed to a table with a long birch stick he was holding. "But first grab an informational-mind-washing reader.

_I certainly hope he means text book_, Antonio thought as he walked over to the shelf and grabbed one. He sat down in the group.

"Well class," the teacher said beginning to pace around the classroom. "My name is Mr. Ander, for all those who don't know me. Now, today on our quest for knowledge, we will begin to discuss the process in which fish breath, but first!" He slapped his stick on the table closest to him, causing the students to jump, "lets play a game."

"Now a salmo salar, is what?" He pointed his stick at a girl with pig tails.

"Atlantic salmon," she said.

"Very good, or as they say on Venus, very good."

_What?!_

"Now the Latin name for a pacific barracuda is..." He pointed his stick at Antonio's face, hovering in front of his nose.

"Sphyarena argentea," he said.

"Very well answered," Mr. Ander said. "Now I won't have to hit you with my trust broom handle."

_Wow_. Antonio thought as he walked away. _He is insane._

"Now class, lets turn our attention to learning." He began to write stuff on the board, talking as he did. They took notes for the rest of class. Antonio found that Mr. Ander was a very crazy person. He would go off topic to start ranting about aliens, or how sharks were really supposed to be the ideal human mate, and when they bite you it was to show their affection.

"Enjoying yourself?" a girl asked him.

"Oh yeah. Been a while since I've met someone who's completely insane," he said as the homework was passed out.

"Yeah, get used to it," a boy said.

"The remainder of the class is yours," Mr. ander said when he finished, "but use it wisely. You never know when the gama rays are gonna get us."

"Oh please," the boy next to him said. "Like the world's really gonna end before that bell rings."

"You never know," one of the girls said. She turned to Antonio. "So what's your next class?" She was Hispanic, except her hair was wasn't quite black, but almost.

"PE," he said.

"Oh, that's in the Health and Fitness building. Just go down the hall to the left, then down the stairs. There will be a door at the end of a hall, go through the door, and the building will be the one directly across campus."

"Does it have to be so far away?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure there's a conspiracy to make us run before we even get to class."

"Sounds like you might be right."

"Was Andre your student aid?"

"Yeah, why? Do you know him?"

"Yeah. I eat lunch with him everyday. When we were freshman we used to have every class together."

"Really?"

"Yeah, but that was freshman year. We haven't had any classes together since unfortunately."

"You guys still friends?"

"Yeah. Just friends."

Antonio noticed the change in her voice. "Just...friends?"

"I used to have a major crush on him."

"Do you still do?"

"Yes, but its more of just a small crush. Besides he loves Tiara Sterling."

"Is it that obvious?" Antonio asked thinking back to his conversation with Andre.

"Yup. Tiara's the most oblivious person on the world if she doesn't realize it."

_Man all this sounds complicated,_ Antonio thought. He had never been good with all this love drama. Which is why it took so long for him to admit his feelings for Lauren. The bell rang and he got up. He was close to the door so he was able to beat most of the crowd to the door and joined the current if kids in the hall. _I can't wait to see Jayden and Kevin._

Please, please, please, please review!


	8. Mia's First Class

Chapter 8: Mia's First Class

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: hey guys. Thanks door all your Reviews. The poll is now closed and I have revealed the results in this chapter! Enjoy!

Mia and Liz had to go outside to get to Mia's class. "So. Mia," Liz said as they exited the building. "What school are you from?"

"Oh...Western High."

"Ah. The other official high school of the city."

"Yeah. Way on the other side from Panorama High."

"Good school though. I have a cousin that goes there."

"Oh?" Mia asked suddenly alarmed that her cover might be blown.

"Yeah. She's a freshman."

"Oh." Mia was relieved. Liz's cousin had arrived after Mia had left. "I didn't know any freshman."

"You would like her. So talkative and full of surprises."

"I'll bet."

"So are you all related or something?"

"What?"

"You and those other kids. We never get that many new kids in one day and you all seemed pretty comfortable around each other."

She opened the door and they entered the new building. "We're not related. We just..."

"Are you guys from a foster home or some thing?" Liz said.

"Yeah," Mia said. "we are."

"Cool," Liz said stopped outside a door that said Food Lab. "We'll here we are. It was nice to meet you Mia."

"It's nice to meet you Liz," Mia said as Liz walked away. She walked in the door. There were several small kitchenette stations inside. The teacher was at a chalkboard in the front. She looked at Mia. "Can I help you?"

"Yeah, my name is Mia. This is my first day here and I'm in this class."

"Welcome. My name is Mrs. McNeil. Just grab an apron and go to kitchen 6 with Seth and Emma."

Mia went over to the one that had a big yellow 6 painted on the wall. There were only two kids there. A boy with black hair and glasses smiled at her. She smiled back, and couldn't help but notice his amber eyes. "Hi, I'm Seth. That's Emma," he gestured his head towards a girl who had dirty blonde hair with pink highlights.

"I'm Mia."

Seth shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Mia. Welcome to the 'odd number kitchen.'"

Mia gave him a strange look. Emma cut in. "He means someone decided to put an odd number of kids in here, so we have to have a kitchen of two."

"But now we have three!" Seth said excitedly.

"Ok class, we had demonstration yesterday, so today you get to cook. Make sure to follow the directions as written, listen to your head chiefs, and remember where the fire extinguishers are."

The whole class started laughing. They started cooking their projects. "Alright, let's get started. Mia you can store your stuff in that cabinet, then grab an apron."

Mia put her stuff in the cabinet and grabbed a green apron. She noticed Emma wearing a green one, and Seth was wearing a white one. "Seth is head chief because he's been taking this class since the 9th grade."

"Emma can be my assistant chief today, since you don't know what to do Mia. Don't worry, you can do it next time."

"Consider yourself lucky," Emma whispered to her. "Seth is a very demanding chief."

"Ok, so we need to wash our hands." He went over to the sink and washed and dried his hands. Emma followed suit, as did Mia. Seth watches her. "Your supposed to do it a certain way," he told her. He reached his hands under the water and guided hers. Mia blushed as his warm skin touched hers "There, and now we dry."

They dried their hands. Emma started getting out the utensils and bowls, and things like that. "Hey Mia, can you go get the ingredients from the front. Here's what we need," she handed Mia a list.

"Ok, what are we making?"

"Cinnamon buns," Seth answered. "When you go up there, grab our dough. We started it yesterday."

"Ok," Mia said. She walked up to the front of the room. Mrs. McNeil was handing students their supplies. "Here for your supplies Mia?" she asked. "Here you are." She handed Mia some dough in a bag, some ingredients that were also in little bags in a bowl, and a piece of string. Mia carried the supplies back to the kitchen. Seth and Emma were already laying out materials.

"Thank you," Seth said as Mia set the stuff down. "Ok, Emma can you start in the cinnamon, Mia you can help her, and I'll do the dough."

Mia went over it where Emma was mixing some ingredients together in a bowl. "Need some help?"

"Sure, calm you hand me that sugar?"

"Here you go."

Mia watched her mixing. "So do you like to cook?" Emma asked her.

"Yeah, I great too. All my friends say so."

"Cool. I'm not bad myself. But taking this class never hurts." They worked no silence for a minute. "So where are you from?"

"Uh, Western High."

"Cool. Why did you transfer to here?"

"Uh...I moved and this school was closer than any other."

"Ah...makes sense."

_Ok, that was a close one._

"Alright, this is done," Emma said.

"So is the dough," Seth said. Emma handed him the bowl and he sprinkled the cinnamon in. He then rolled it up and used the string to cut it into pieces. Emma and Mia spread tin foil on a pan and Emma turned the stove on. Seth put the little pieces on the pan, and Mia could see they were starting to look like cinnamon rolls. Seth put the pan in the oven and set the timer. "Ok, he said. "Mia, you can take a crack at making the icing if you want, and Emma can go get the ingredients."

Emma left to go get the ingredients. "We should probably get some of these dishes into the sink." The two of them began doing that until Emma returned. When she did, Seth put her to work doing the dishes while Mia started working on the icing. Seth checked on her while he was helping to pick up. "Don't put the sugar in yet," he said. "You have to mix it first If you put the sugar in now it'll taste like we put salt in instead." She followed his instructions and was soon finished.

The timer went off and Seth took the cinnamon rolls out, and Emma put the icing on them. "Mia can you wipe the table down," Seth asked indicating the table that was in their small area. She wiped it down, and Emma got three plates, then they split up the cinnamon rolls. Mia took a bite. "Mmmm. These are delicious."

"This is why I take this class," Emma said.

"We did a good job," Seth said.

"Class, you have 5 minutes remaining," the teacher said.

The three of them made sure everything was picked up, then wrapped their plates with the remaining rolls on in Saran warp, and grabbed their stuff. "Good job today Mia," Seth said.

"Thanks."

"No problem, hey which lunch do you have?"

"Uh...2."

"Great, so do I. I'll see you then."

"Ok." Mia said.

The bell rang and students filed out the door. Mia looked at her schedule. Her next class was Early Childhood Education. "Excuse me," she said to someone. "Where is this class?"

The student took a quick look at her schedule. "Down the hall to the right. Fist door on the left."

"Oh, thank you." She walked down the hall, following the current of kids. _Wonder how everyone else's first classes went._


	9. Mike's First Class

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Nine: Mike's First Class

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mike and Brad walked with Emily and Ashley. "This way," Brad said, leading Mike down a hall. He gave Emily a smile, and squeezed her hand before following. They went up a flight of stairs, and down a hall.

"This school is big," Mike commented.

"Yeah, it is," Brad said.

"How many buildings are there?"

"Five. The Health and Wellness building, the Tech building, the "Real World" building..."

"What's that?"

"That's where all the classes that pertain to real life are. You know, cooking, early childhood education, economics, things like that. Then there's the Performing Arts building, and the there's this one, this is where all the science, math, social studies, and English classrooms are. We call it the Main building."

"Wow."

"Oh, and then there's the cafeteria, so six I guess."

"This place is huge."

Brad shrugged. "All the more reason it's located just outside the city, and not directly in the middle."

_Good point._ They walked in silence, until they reached a classroom.

"Here we are," Brad said.

"Thanks," Mike said.

"No problem. Later Mike."

"Later," Mike said as he walked away. The green ranger opened the door and walked into the class. The students were all sitting in desks arranged in neat rows and columns facing the board. There was a man teaching at the board. He looked at Mike.

"Can I help you?"

"This my class, I'm new here."

"Well, just grab a book, and a seat."

Mike went over to the shelf and grabbed a textbook, then sat in the only empty seat, unfortunately it was in the front. _Man I hate sitting in the front._ Mike looked on the board and saw Mr. Haskell written on it. _Ether that's his name, or he writes strange names on the board for no reason._

"Ok," Mr. Haskell said. "Now that we can get back on track," he gave Mike a look. Mike felt like being annoying, so he waved. "let's return our attention to the exciting world of equations." He wrote a long equation on the board. "Now who wants to solve this?"

Mike stole a quick glance around the classroom. It appeared everyone was interested in ether their, shoes, or the window in the back. The words 'must not make eye contact' came to mind.

"How about the...new student?" the teacher said.

Something about the way he said it aggregated Mike, so he decided to use his natural abilities... "The new student doesn't really want to. Please try don't try again later."

The whole class started laughing. Mr. Haskell gave Mike a dirty look. "I wasn't asking your opinion. Just come up here and find 'x', comedian."

The teacher looked at Mike like he was some kind of bug. Mike decided to give the teacher a harder time. He stood up and walked up to the board. He picked up a marker and circled all the x's. he turned back to the teacher. "There you go."

Mr. Haskell's jaw tightened. "That's not what I meant."

"What? You told me to find 'x', there it is."

The class laughed again. Mike smiled. "I mean, solve the equation," the teacher said through clenched teeth.

"Oh. Well you should say what you mean and mean what you say," Mike said.

The class laughed again. The teacher huffed. "Just sit down."

"Ok," Mike said. He sat down in his seat.

"Anthony, you solve the problem." A kid in the back got up reluctantly and walked to the front. He began working on the problem. He stopped halfway through, his hand hovering the maker just over the board. "What's the problem?"

"I don't know what to do next."

"You don't... Anthony, this is an Algebra 1 problem. You should know by now."

"I just...I just don't remember."

"Obviously this is what I get picking a student whose father paid his way through math."

Mike narrowed his eyes. _Now this guy is really starting to bug me._

"Just sit down," Mr. Haskell said waving Anthony back to his seat. The boy put the marker down and walked back to his seat. "Don't hurt yourself on the way back," Mr. Haskell muttered. He sighed and rubbed his forehead. "I'll never understand why I have to get the students who bluff their way through school instead of the smart ones that care about their education."

Mike clenched his fist. _He has no right to say that. Who is he to make that assumption?_

"Just open your books to page 23 and do all the problems on the page. Due at the end of class."

The class made an audible groan and got their books out. Mike focused on what he as doing. It seemed to him this teacher was not a very nice guy. He was talking about the students like they couldn't hear him.

One of the people next to Mike crumpled up his paper in frustration. Mike looked around and saw similar scenes. Students were appearing to get frustrated with the work. He tried to do the first problem, but realized he really didn't know what to do. He grabbed his paper and approached the teachers desk.

Mr. Haskell looked up. "Yes?"

"Uh...I need help with this problem."

He took a quick glance at Mike's paper. "You added wrong. Guess you're just like the rest of them. You don't even try, you just expect your parents' money to get you through life."

"You don't know me. You can't say..."

"Oh, yes I do know you. Not your personally, but I know your type."

"My type?"

"You're just like the rest these spoiled brats. Your parents send you to a preppy school, you have all these electronics and cars, and you wear designer brand everything. You think the world revolves around you and that everyone else who actually worked for something in their life is below you."

"I'm not like that at all," Mike protested. "I..."

"Yes, yes, I know. You're different, you have responsibilities at home. I've heard it all before. Just go back to your seat."

Mike wanted to argue some more, but he decided that he wasn't going to get anywhere and just went back to his seat. He worked his way through the page. It was very quiet in the room. As he finished Mike looked at the paper. He was willing to bet a few of his answers were wrong, but he didn't want to go ask Mr. Haskell for help again.

He turned the paper in and returned to his seat. The kid next to him was playing on his phone.

"Done already?" Mike asked.

"Nope. I just don't want to do it."

"I don't think it's a choice."

"Don't really care. Mr. I'm the world's biggest hypocrite-Haskell doesn't care. He never helps us."

"He's a lot of things, but I don't think a hypocrite is one of them."

"He is. He gives us lectures about how ungrateful we are, and how we look down on the less fortunate who work for all they've got. He acts like we all think we walk on water or something."

"Maybe he was bullied by rich kids when he was young."

"Could've been because he was a rich kid."

"What?"

"Everyone knows it. His parents are loaded. They sent him to prep schools, and an Ivy League college."

"And he talks about us like..."

"Yeah. Not fair right?"

"No kidding."

"It's like he's declared war on us."

Well then. _If it's a war he wants, it's a war he'll get._ The bell rang. Everyone grabbed their bags.

"You homework is page pages 25-27, all the problems," Mr. Haskell said as people left.

"What's your next class?"

"Forensics."

"Me too. Come on, I'll walk with you."

"Thanks. I'm Mike" Mike said.

"I'm Roger."

"Hope no one else got a horrible teacher," Mike muttered as he followed Roger into the river of people.

Please review and check out my other story, please! Thank you!


	10. Emily's First Class

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Ten: Emily's First Class

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: hey guys! Thanks so much for the reviews. I read them before school starts on the morning and they put me in the best mood. You're all amazing! I had to bring the rating up for safety reasons...you'll understand after you read this. Enjoy!

After Mike and Brad left it was just Emily and Ashley. "Hurry up," Ashley said.

Emily hurried to keep up with her. They exited the building and walked across the neat lawn of the school to another building. Ashley didn't say anything as they walked.

"What grade are you in?"Emily asked.

"I'm a junior."

"Me too."

"I really don't care."

Emily was a bit taken aback by her response. She decided to ignore it and just followed her to the class. The walked into the building. The walls had pictures that were painted, drawn, ect. They walked up to a door and Ashley walked in. Emily followed.

They entered an art class. There were tables with kids painting at them. The teacher, a nice looking woman, was monitoring them. Ashley went to a table, leaving Emily standing in the door. She stood there unsure for a moment, then approached the teacher.

"Hi, my name is Emily. I'm new in this class."

"Welcome Emily. It's nice to see new faces. My name is Mrs. Sheldon. We were just beginning our work for the day. We're painting today. Just grab a piece of paper, and a seat, then paint."

"Ok," Emily said. She grabbed a piece of paper and sat at the table on front of where Ashley was with two other girls. They chatted as they painted. Emily wasn't sure what to paint. She started just painting something, thinking she would decide what it was later. She heard Ashley laughing about something.

"She's so annoying. I can't believe my punishment is to show stupid newbies to class," she was saying.

Emily felt a prickling feeling on the back of her neck. They were talking about her.

"She was probably lost with out you, Ash," one of the other girls said.

"Yeah, she looks like she's really stupid. Her hair is unbelievably ugly."

"You mean like her?" Ashley asked. The three of them started laughing. Emily tried to ignore them. Her hand started to shake. _Just ignore them. They don't know what they're talking about. Just ignore them._ She went back to painting, but their voices came to her loud and clear.

"You should see her friends, they looked completely lost."

"Probably from some small stupid school where everyone knows everyone."

"Were there any guys?" one of the girls asked.

"Yeah, but they were all seniors. Except one, but he's ugly."

Emily resisted the urge to turn around and smack them. They turned their conversation to other subjects. She continued to paint. Some time later the girls were walking by her, when Ashley knocked paint over, ruining Emily's painting.

"Hey," Emily said. "You didn't need it do that."

"I know. I wanted to."

"Why would you do that? You don't even know me!"

"So? I can do whatever I want. No one is going to stop me because my brother is on the varsity football team. Get me in trouble, or mess with me, and he'll come after you."

"You're a jerk and a coward who hides behind other people."

"You're a stupid blonde slut who doesn't know who she's dealing with."

Emily was at a loss for words. She'd been called many things in her life, but a slut was not one of them. She noticed a girl nearby. The girl was looking at them, but she didn't say anything. Emily noticed her with a can and pour whatever was in it onto three seats. Then she spread some feathers on top. Ashley walked away with her friends. The girl went back to her table.

Ashley and her friends sat down in their seats. The girl walked by them. Suddenly her arm jerked out, spilling paint all over Ashley's pants. "Hey!" She pushed the other girl into a rack. "What gives you freak!?"

Emily noticed something on Ashley's butt. The girl smiled.

"What...what's that...behind...you?"

Ashley looked around and saw her butt. They were feathers glued to it. "You freak! What did you do?"

"What is going on here?" Mrs. Sheldon said coming over to them.

Ashley's friends got up and Emily started laughing.

"What are you laughing at slut?" one of them asked.

"Hayley. That's not very nice," Mrs. Sheldon said. "Now, what happened?"

"She spilled paint all over me!" Ashley said indicating the girl.

"It...was...a...mu...muscle...spasm."

Mrs. Sheldon shook her head. "It was just an accident Ashley. Now why don't you and your friends go get cleaned up."

"We're fine," Hayley said, flipping her black ponytail. "Aren't we Amanda?"

"Yeah, that retard didn't spill anything on us," Amanda agreed straightening her curly ginger hair in it's ponytail.

"Look behind you," Emily said.

They did and screamed.

"Freak!"

"Klutz!"

"Retard!"

"That's enough from you girls! Now go get cleaned up and head straight to the principal's office. All of you, now!"

They left the classroom grumbling. Emily felt a feeling of victory and turned to the other girl, but she was gone. Emily went back to her ruined painting and discovered someone had replaced hers with a beautiful painting of a mountainside. She looked around, but everyone was still working. Then she saw the quiet girl. She had sand colored hair and was painting, but it looked like she'd just started it. Emily smiled.

"Time to pick up class," the teacher said.

Everyone began to pick up their area. Emily put her paints away and washed her used paintbrushes, then walked up to where the other girl was. "Hi," she said. "I'm..."

The bell rang and the girl left the classroom. "That was strange," Emily said. "She didn't eve give me a chance to say thank you."

She looked at her schedule. She walked up to Mrs. Sheldon. "Excuse me, but where is music class?"

"On the third floor. Just go up the stairs and its the second door on the left."

"Ok. Thank you," she said as she left. _Wonder if anyone else had to deal with mean girls on their first day._

Please review! They encourage me so much!


	11. Gym Class

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Ten: Gym Class

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

A/N: hey people! So, I've covered all of their first classes, so now the chapters will usually consist of multiple classes for each. Thanks for all the reviews! They are encouraging and amazing! Here you are:

Jayden walked into the gym. There were pictures painted on the wall of balls and gear from different sports. He looked around and saw with relief that Antonio had just come in with Andre. He walked over to them. "Hey Antonio," Jayden said.

"Hey Jayden. You remember Andre, right?"

"Yes I do. Nice to see you again."

"You too." He looked over their shoulders and smiled. "I think that's your friend, over there. Isn't it?" They turned around and saw Keivn walking over."

"Hi," Kevin said to them. "Enjoying the day so far?"

"Enjoying is not the word I would use," Jayden mumbled.

"We'd better get changed," Andre said. "Come on, the boys locker room is over here." They followed him across the gym to the locker room. Inside they found lockers in rows against the wall forming a giant square. He led them over to an office that was right next to the door. A man that was in great physical shape, and was also bald, was in sitting at a desk. He looked up when they entered.

"Rodriguez. What do you want?"

"We've got these new kids here that need lockers, Mr. Casey," Andre said.

Mr. Casey looked at them then nodded. He pulled out a piece of paper and looked at it. "We have two people to a locker. What're your names?"

"Antonio Garcia."

"Jayden Shiba."

"Kevin Micheals."

He nodded and wrote them down. "Garcia, you can share with Rodriguez over here, and you two can share," he said looking at Kevin and Jayden. "Here's the combination and locker number." He wrote it down on a slip of paper and handed it to Jayden. "Rodriguez can show where we keep the spare clothes if you don't have any."

"Thank you," Jayden said as they left.

Andre led them over to two bins. He reached into one and pulled out three pairs of identical blue shorts. He threw a pair to each of them. He reached into the other one and produced three white shirts, which he threw to them. "You guys need help finding your locker?"

Jayden looked at the number, then at the other lockers. "No, I think we can find it."

"Ok, this way," he told Antonio who followed him without question. Jayden looked at the paper again. _Locker number 34._ He followed the numbers until he found it. Kevin looked at the slip and turned the combination lock, but to didn't open. Jayden stepped up to try, but he too failed. The two of them tried to open it for several minutes before Andre walked over.

"Looks like you two need some help," he said. He looked at the combination, then turned lock. "See, just go past the first number three times to the right, and stop at it." He stopped at the first number. "Then spin it to the left and go past the second number twice." He stopped at the second number. "Then just go straight to the last number." He stopped at the third number and pulled down on the lock. It popped open. "There you go."

"Thanks," Jayden said.

"No problem," Andre said walking back to his and Antonio's locker on the other side of the room. Jayden looked around at all the guys getting changed.

"Do we just get changed right here?" he asked Kevin.

The blue ranger shrugged. "Guess so. No one else seems to care."

Jayden changed into the gym clothes and put his clothes in the locker, Kevin did the same, then shut and locked the locker. They followed everyone else out into the gym. People were just lounging around, waiting for class to start. They found Andre and Antonio and sat down next to them.

"So how were your guys' first classes?" Andre asked.

"Evil," Jayden said.

"Insane," Antonio said.

"Frustrating," Kevin said.

Andre laughed. "I love the diversity in opinion here. Let me guess, teachers were the main reason, right?"

"Mine was out of his mind," Antonio said.

"Mine was boring," Kevin said. "The work was frustrating."

"My teacher was evil," Jayden said.

"Why?" Antonio asked looking amused.

"He kept calling on me!"

Andre was howling with laughter at this point. "Let me guess, you were homeschooled, right?"

Jayden stiffened. "How did you guess?"

"You have that reaction most of us have in first grade or kindergarten the first time we get called on. Teachers have a radar for students that don't want to be called on. They always pick the person whose hand isn't up."

"Certainly sounds evil," Jayden said.

"It is, but that's just the way it works."

"Circle it up!" One of the teachers yelled coming into the gym. The students all took a spot on the black line of the basketball court. The four of them found a spot and sat down. Three students sat in the middle and started stretching their arms. Jayden noticed the other students copying them. He did what everyone else was doing.

"Switch!" one of them yelled. Everyone changed arms.

"We stretch before every class," Andre explained. "The we do what's called starters. It varies by day, but they're running, weight room, endurance, and we do stations twice a week. Today is a running day."

"How long do we have to run?" Kevin asked as they switched to a leg stretch.

"The goal is 15 minutes. They usually cut it so that we have time to walk though."

_Wimps,_ Jayden thought. He looked at Kevin and Antonio and knew they were thinking they same thing.

When stretching was done the whole class did 20 push-ups and 20 sit-ups. Jayden smiled as kids grumbled and complained. _At least samurai training comes in handy somewhere here._

"Plank!" one of the kids in the middle shouted. "30 seconds today." Jayden hot down on the ground and got ready. "Go!"

Jayden lifted him self up onto his toes and arms. He looked over at the others. Kevin looked right at ease. To his other side, Antonio was talking to Andre in Spanish. Then two of them were carrying on with their conversation like they were just relaxing. Jayden was surprised. Andre was in better shape then he'd originally thought.

When that was over everyone got up and stood on the black lines. "Ok," Mr. Casey said. "We are running for 7 minutes, then 5 minutes, and then 3 minutes. We have the usual one minute walks in between each. Get ready." Kids groaned and faced the direction they were going to run in. "Go!" Mr. Casey shouted starting the clock on the score board. Everyone started jogging. Jayden stayed with Kevin, Antonio, and Andre at first, but then Andre started to run a little faster. Antonio easily caught up to him.

"You run marathons or something?"

"Yeah, bit I also do track and cross country."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I really like running. I'm good at it too."

_So am I,_ Antonio thought, thinking back to the days when he was in high school and he ran on the varsity track team.

The seven minutes seemed to fly by. Mr. Casey blew his whistle. "Ok, walk a minute and change direction."

Everyone stopped running and turned to go the other way. Jayden knew that he could keep going, but he decided it was probably best not to stick out from everyone else. The minute seemed to be very short and before they knew it they were running again. Jayden ran right next to Kevin.

"So have you noticed anything suspicious yet? Anything the nighlocks could be interested in?" the blue ranger asked him quietly.

"Well I think my English teacher could be a nighlock."

Kevin laughed. "Really?"

"He kept calling on me!"

Kevin shook his head. "You know what this is a good experience for you. You need to learn how to deal with annoying people."

"That's what Mike is for, and occasionally Antonio."

Kevin laughed again. "You have an answer for everything. Seriously though, have you seen anything."

"Not yet, but the day has just started."

When running was finished everyone sat down in the middle of the gym. Most kids looked really tired, but a few looked ok. Jayden recognized one of the other guys and nudged Kevin. "Football-guy is in this class."

Kevin looked over and nodded. Brett looked up at them, he stared menacingly at something behind them. Jayden looked around and saw he was staring at Antonio and Andre. Andre stared back with mutual hatred. Antonio met Jayden's eyes. They exchanged a silent message of confusion. Mr. Casey and a woman with blonde hair pulled back into a tight pony tail stood in front of them.

"Today," Mr. Casey said, "we are going to start the volleyball unit. Notice there are no nets up, because today we want you just to learn the basics. Now, Miss. Obrien is going to demonstrate how to bump..."

Less than ten minutes later Jayden found himself hitting a volleyball into the air. The first time he did it he flinched. _I didn't know the ball was going to be that hard._ As he practiced he looked at his fore-arms and found they were turning pink. _What? I've gotten hit with practice katana that never hurt this bad!_

He looked at Kevin how seemed to be doing fine, but his ball wasn't going very high. Antonio was hitting the ball high, but he kept missing it as it fell back down. Andre was doing very well, until Brett came over and knocked the ball away as it was in the air. The two of them had a stare down, Jayden was anticipating a fight, but Andre simply walked over to pick up his ball, only to have Brett trip him. Andre looked like he wanted to chuck the ball at him, but just turned away and continued practicing.

Jayden resumed hitting the ball. He bumped it, then used a set, the another bump. He decided to see how many times he could hit it with out it touching the ground. He managed to get up to 10, but that was about it. _This is a lot harder than it looks._ Mr. Casey blew the whistle, signaling the end of class. Everyone put the balls away and headed for the locker rooms. Jayden put his in the bin, the followed the other guys.

When he got to his locker he tried to open it, but the look was being stubborn. Kevin came over and got it to open on the first try. "It appears our lock doesn't like you," Kevin said.

"Yeah," Jayden said. He changed and grabbed his bag. He couldn't wait until the bell rang. Kevin was looking at his schedule. He looked at Jayden's. "We have the same lunch."

"Great." The bell rang. "See you at lunch."

"See you."

This chapter is the exception to what I said in the first note. Please review!


	12. The Second Classes

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twelve: The Second Classes

A/N: alright, so this is what happened to the other rangers during their second classes. Thank you all to everyone who reviewed! They're very encouraging!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Lauren sat in psychology immersed in the information. This was the kind of education she'd never had. She listened to the teacher talk about OCD. She'd always heard the term, but realized she'd never really understood the it.

"OCD is a very common mental disorder," Mrs. Ryan was saying. "Many people develop it, and like all mental disorders it varies from person to person. The degree of how much bad it is also varies. One person might be OCD to the point where they have to have a certain blanket in their house folded a certain way all the time. Another person might have to turn the handle of a door several times before opening or closing it."

_Cool,_ Lauren thought as she took notes. _Thats pretty wired and fascinating at the same time._

"Finger printing is one of the oldest ways of gathering forensics," Mr. Norris said to the class. "It can also be one of the easiest measures to counteract. Can someone tell me why? Mike."

"Because you can wear gloves and wipe firings prints away," Mike said.

"Yes, very good. Now each person's finger print is different. Mine are different form yours, and yours are different than your families'."

After the boring math, Mike was glad to be taking a class that was interesting. Mr. Norris was a nice guy who obviously loved this class.

"Today, we are going to do a lab. You guys are going to collect finger prints from your table. The group that gets the most will win a prize at the end. I want you to do this in your lab pairs if you please."

Mike looked at Roger who grinned. Obviously he loved this class, but it was easy to see why.

"There are a couple ways you can use to collect and identify finger prints..."

Mia loved Early Childhood Education. The class was full of little kids. As soon as she'd walked in she'd been introduced to the teacher, Mrs. Bush. "This class is for people who maybe want to work in preschools, or day cares, or even kindergartens," she'd said.

Now Mia was playing with a couple of three years olds. A boy came over to them. "Can I play?" he asked.

"Hi Jaxon," the little girl named Janet said. "Pweese pway."

"Thank you for inviting me," Jaxon said sitting down next to Mia. He shook her hand. "Hi, I'm Jaxon."

"I'm Mia. Do you like kids?"

"I love kids. They're so innocent at this age. I think they're great."

"Me too," Mia said as they returned to their game of Hungry Hungry Hippos.

After the interesting fiasco that was art, Emily was enjoying music class. Everyone sat on a carpet on the ground, while Mrs. Miller sat in the middle. "So class, who can tell me how many beats a whole notes gets?"

"Four," the boy next to Emily said.

"Very good Nigel. How about a half note?"

"Two," said a brunette girl across the room.

"Excellent. Eighth note?"

"A half a beat" said another boy.

"Fantastic. Sixteenth note?"

"A quarter beat," another girl said.

"Very good," Mrs. Miller said. "Now, today we are going to continue our unit on instrument families. At the end of the unit I will assign a final project, which you will each present to the rest of the class."

There was a mixed reaction from everyone. Some kids looked excited about the prospect of performing for the rest do the class, some kids looked downright terrified. Emily felt indifferent. Public speaking wasn't one of her favorite thing to do, but she'd faced a lot worse than a classroom full of teenagers.

"Now we will begin with woodwinds..."

Mia laughed as a two year-old named Kendra painted Jaxon's face with pink and purple paint. The boy smiled. "Do I look pretty?" he asked her.

Kendra nodded. She proceeded to paint his nails, and well...a good

portion of his fingers as well, with pink paint. Mia smiled at him.

"You know you a a really good sport to put up with all of this."

"Oh this is nothing. We used to have a kid who thought that the words 'don't touch our stuff' meant 'please color all over our textbooks.'"

"Oh," Mia said trying not to laugh.

"Yeah," he said. "At least if she colors on me I can wash it off. Why do you think we use all art supplies that can be washed off."

"Common sense?" Mia guessed.

"You won't find that in this school. Most of the kids here are ok, but there are few who should be avoided."

"Like who?"

"You'll know when you see them."

_Wonder of anyone has met these kids,_ Mia wondered.

Mike carefully crushed the piece of graphite from Roger's pencil. He checked the instructions. _Sprinkle granite over the finger print..._ He wasn't one for following directions normally, but in this case it wasn't so bad. The class was really fun so far. He looked over at Roger who was dusting the fingerprint with a feather.

"You know, what?" He said to Mike.

"What?"

"This like the kiddie way of doing it. I heard tomorrow we're going to do it the way real forensics teams do it."

"Cool," Mike said. He picked up the feather and began dusting the graphite over the fingerprint. He looked at the instructions again. _The graphite will stick to the oil from the person's skin_. Mike followed the next step, and grabbed a piece of scotch tape, and placed it over the fingerprint. He pushed down lightly, the grabbed one of the ends and placed it face-down on the index card he was using.

He grabbed another piece of graphite and began crushing it to retrieve another fingerprint. Mr. Norris had promised a prize for the group that collected the most. So far, he and Roger had collected five. Mike carefully began sprinkling the graphite over the fingerprint...

"Your homework tonight," Mrs. Ryan. "You are going to write a story on someone who has OCD. I want you to tell a story about a day in their lives. What do they feel the need to do? How does it affect people around them? How does it affect their daily lives? Where they always like this? If not, what triggered it, and how has their lives changed. "I'm expecting this to be at least two pages long."

Lauren wrote the questions on a piece of paper. She smiled. She didn't quite have the imagination Antonio did, but she was pretty sure she could come up with a good story. She checked her schedule. _Astronomy, next. Sounds like fun._

She began brainstorming different things for her OCD character to do. _He has to...turn the doorknob four times before opening or shutting any door. He can have friends who try to help him..._

She smiled. This was going to be fun.

Mia got up from the ground as the bell rang. She grabbed her bag. She looked at her schedule. _FST next._ She found Jaxon grabbing his bag. "Hey," she said. "Can you tell me where 211 is?"

"Yeah, which building?"

"I...I don't know it's for a math class."

"Oh well if its for math it's in the main building. Just go back across campus the way you came, and follow the numbers. It'll be on the second floor."

"Thanks," Mia said, heading for her next class.

Mike and Roger waited for the verdict. Mr. Norris finished tallying up the fingerprints. "Ok," he said. "The team that got the most was...Mike and Roger." They hi-fived each other. Mr. Norris came over to their table. "For your reward, you each get candy." He handed each of them a lollipop. Mike smiled. _This day just got more interesting._ He pocketed it to eat later just as the bell rang. He looked at his schedule. "Hey Roger, do you know where video programming is?"

"Yeah, it's in the Tech Building. Just go out the door we came in, and it's the one on your left."

"Thanks," Mike said heading down the hall.

"Ok class," Mrs. Miller said. "For your final project, each of you will prepare a song on the instrument of your choice and perform it in front of the class. This will be first come, first serve. Everyone has to do a different one." She went over to her desk while people stared getting up and grabbing their stuff. Emily picked up her bag. _I should play my flute..._

"I think I'll do the violin," a girl next to her said. Emily looked around before realizing the girl was talking to her. "My name's Tori. Tori Watkins."

"Emily," Emily said shaking her hand. "You play violin?"

"Yeah, my parents are both professional musicians. They wanted me to be able to play lots of instruments, so I've been playing since I was like 2."

"That's impressive," Emily said. "Hey, do you know where...PE is?"

"Sure, I have that class next. I'll walk with you."

"Thanks," Emily said. The bell rang and she followed Tori to gym class.

Please review!


	13. First Lunch

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Thirteen: First Lunch

A/N: hey guys! Sorry if this chapter is a bit long, but I thought it needed some interesting action. Thanks for all the reviews! Keep 'em comin'!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden walked into his world politics class feeling very nervous. Gym had been ok, English was an experience, so he was a little cautious about walking into his next class. He walked up to the teacher's desk. "Hi, my name is Jayden," he said to the teacher. "I'm new here, and this is my class."

"Ah...welcome Jayden. My name is Mr. Lewis. Just take a seat. Lunch is a half hour away, just so you know. And I will make you late if you keep looking at the clock."

"Ok," Jayden said. He sat down at a table. A girl came in a sat next to him. He recognized her as the girl who sat behind him in English. She smiled at him.

"Well, fancy running into you. You in this class too?"

"No, I just chose to sit in a random classroom."

She laughed. "Ok, then Mr. Smart-Alec."

Jayden smiled at her. She turned away and got her notebook out. The bell rang and the last few stragglers hurried to their seats. Mr. Lewis went over and locked the door before shutting it. He walked over and stood in front of the board.

"Good morning class. Today we will be continuing our discussion on the pros and cons of Imperialism. Would anyone like to give an example of a pro?" The girl behind Jayden raised her hand. "Yes, Allison?"

"Most super powers brought technology and industrialization to third world countries. This helped them to become more technologically advanced and keep up with the rest of the world."

"Very good point? Does any one have an argument?" Lorrie raised her hand. "Yes Lorrie?"

"Having better technology doesn't necessarily constitute being taken over. What if the technology they already have is good for them? What if they don't want to keep up with the rest of the world? They could be doing things they way they have been for hundreds of years and that works for them. I say that imposing a way of living that blocks out their original traditions is a con."

Jayden was impressed. She really seemed to know what she was talking about.

"Very good point Lorrie. Does anyone else have an opinion? Jayden?" Jayden realized everyone was staring at him waiting for an answer. He looked at the desk. "Don't be shy. This is a debate. There is no wrong answer or judging in our forums.

Jayden stared at his hands. "I agree with Lorrie. Sometimes it can be best to just let people follow traditions that they always have been. However, sometimes a break to tradition can be beneficial."

"How?" Someone asked.

"Maybe someone who breaks tradition can help you in ways you never thought of before. I think tradition is very important, but maybe a change can be really helpful to you."

"Very good point Jayden."

Jayden sat back relieved that he'd survived.

Antonio sat in class being reminded of why he hated the English language. He stared at the worksheet, trying to pick out the vocabulary word that was spelled correctly. He looked at the next row of words. _Narcassist, Narcissict, Narcissist._ He circled the last one. He moved on to the next one. _Rectitude, Rekittide, Recttitude. Really?_ "What do half of these even mean?" He asked himself quietly.

He glanced up and saw that everyone else seemed to be going through their Vocab easily. _I never was very good with Enlish. There's a reason I prefer Spanish._ He remembered when he used to ask his dad for help on his English homework. Even he had a hard time helping Antonio, not understanding half of it. He smiled when he remembered his dad telling him that if he failed English he could always use another language.

He moved on with his circling. He was about half-way done when the teacher said, "Ok, class, who needs more time?" Antonio out his hand up before looking around. He realized he was the only one with his hand up. "Uh...never mind. I'm good," he said his cheeks burning.

"Are you sure?" Ms. Leonard asked.

"Yeah. I'm sure," Antonio said. He noticed a few kids snickering. He ignored them. _This why I hate English._

Lauren was in astronomy staring at a map of constellations. She was trying to find Orion when the lunch bell rang. She got up and joined the flow of people that funneled through the door. She wasn't sure where the cafe was, but following the throng of students seemed like a good plan. She was lead outside to another building. She walked in and started feeling a little scared.

She stood in line and surveyed the room there appeared to about six different 'Got Milk?' posters. Ironically enough quite a few kids appeared to have chosen soda instead. There were tables everywhere. They didn't appear to be in any particular order, just placed where people could walk through without too much trouble. Some people sat on tables, others actually sat in chairs. It was pretty loud with the chatter of about a hundred different conversations.

She moved up in line a grabbed a red plastic tray. She saw lots of options. There was pizza, sandwiches, salad, and something wrapped in tinfoil. She grabbed a sandwich, an apple, and a milk. She paid and looked for a place to sit. A small anxiety gripped her as she found she wasn't sure where to go. Most people, appeared to be eating with their friends. She didn't see anyone she knew. Some one bumped her from behind. Her quick samurai reflexes saved her lunch from falling on the ground. She turned around and saw Tiara.

"Oh, hi Lauren," the younger girl said.

"Hi Tiara."

"Need a place to sit?"

"Yeah. Can I sit with you?"

"Sure. Come on," Tiara said leading Lauren to the table she sat at everyday. They got there and found Kevin and Jayden. "Yay," Tiara said. "I have a lunch group now."

Lauren laughed. She saw Jayden had taken a sandwich, except his appeared to be tuna. Kevin had a salad. Tiara had one of the things wrapped in tinfoil. She unwrapped it to reveal a chicken sandwich.

"Do you usually eat alone?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Tiara said. "By this time in the year most people have all their cliques and groups figured out. Besides, not many people want to eat with the wierd half-foreign, half-American girl."

"Half-foreign, half-American?" Jayden asked amused.

"Yeah. I lived abroad for ten years. The last time I was in an American school I was in kindergarten. I more accustom to Asian cultures than this one."

"Did you only live in Asia?" Lauren asked.

"Yup. That particular area is my dad's specialty. So how have your day guys' day been so far?"

Antonio followed the other kids to the cafe. As soon as he walked in someone grabbed his arm and dragged him away. He immediately tried to throw them off. "Wow, hey. Relax its me."

"Andre," he said. "Dude, don't do that."

"Sorry. A little jumpy, aren't we?"

"So?"

"Whatever. Come on let's get food." He led Antonio to another lunch line. This one was a little shorter.

"What's this?"

"Snack Shack. You can get cookies, juice, even PB and J."

"Did you seriously just call it that?"

"What? Anyways it's better then most of the food in here." They got to the front. Andre got a couple cookies, a juice, and a bagel. Antonio got a peanut butter and jelly, chips, and milk. He followed Andre to a table. There were two kids already sitting there. He recognized the girl from his marine bio class. The other boy had tan skin, black hair, and almond colored eyes. His hair was cropped short. "Hey guys," Andre said. "Have you met mì new amigo? This is Antonio. Antonio this is Lily," the girl, "and Diego."

"We've already met in marine bio," Lilly said.

"Excellent. Did Ander happen to hit anyone?"

"No."

"Such a disappointment."

"So where you are you from?" Lily asked Antonio.

"Reefside High School."

"Reefside? That's pretty far."

"Yeah. I just moved here..."

"Cool."

Lily looked at something behind Andre. "Heads up lover boy."

They turned around and saw Tiara. Andre smiled a goofy smile. Antonio looked at Lily. "Is he ok?"

"Yeah. He's just drooling over her."

Diego smiled. He reached over and stole some of Andre's food, but he was to preoccupied to notice. Antonio smiled. He saw Lauren sitting with Tiara, Jayden, and Kevin. He smiled.

"Oh no," Lily said. "Not you to. We're gonna need a leash for these two."

"Hey," Antonio said turning around as Andre snapped put of his daze and went to throw his trash away, "I am allowed to stare. I have a girlfriend." All of a sudden he heard a crash. They looked up and saw Andre standing in front of Brett, glaring. Brett had his arms crossed, glaring.

"This can only end badly," Diego muttered getting up.

"What was that for?" Andre demanded.

"What? You got in my way. You should be apologizing to me."

"No way."

Brett grabbed the front of Andre's shirt. By now everyone was watching. "Not so brave now, are you?" He sneered.

Andre brought one leg up and kicked Brett in the stomach. The bully stumbled backwards and released him. Diego ran over and out his hands on Andre's shoulders. He shook his head. Andre continued on his way back to their table. He sat down, clearly ticked off.

"That was interesting," Antonio said.

"I warned you," Andre said. "He's a complete jerk."

_No kidding,_ Antonio thought. "Why does he hate you so much?"

"Because I'm twice the athlete he'll ever be and he knows it."

"What do you mean?"

Andre was about to answer before a bomb hit their table. Well...it was a actually a milk carton someone had filled with soggy food. It hit their table and exploded a everywhere. Lily stumbled backwards. Antonio jumped back with Andre. Diego ducked under the table. Milk and soggy food was flying everywhere.

The four of them got up. Antonio brushed himself off. He felt himself gag when he pulled a soggy piece of bread off his shirt. He heard someone laughing and turned around to see Brett and his friends. Andre's face contorted in fury. He looked like he was going to kill someone. Just then the bell rang for the end of lunch.

As kids started heading back to class, noticeably slower than they arrived, Andre gave Brett one last look of contempt before grabbing his bag and stalking away. Antonio headed towards the door. Just as he reached it he tripped over something and nearly fell, catching himself just in time. He looked around, but everyone was still leaving. Then he saw Brett a few feet in front of him. Brett turned around and gave Antonio a look of dislike before leaving.

_Well then,_ Antonio thought on his way back to class. _I may have just been dragged into the middle of something._

please review!


	14. Second Lunch

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Fourteen: Second Lunch

A/N: Ahola amigos and amigas! Here's your next update. I hit a little writers block, but it's all good now thanks for all the reviews! And...being reading!...

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mike was wondering when lunch was. He had never been a fan of school food, but then again, he wasn't a picky eater. He was enjoying video programming though. He clicked on another graphic and added it to the scene on his computer screen. This class was for making video games. Kids learned about software, and stuff like that, but the whole point was to make your own.

_This is fun,_ Mike thought. _I usually hate school, but this class is just as fun as my last one._ The teacher, Mr. Molina, peered over his shoulder.

"Very good," he said. "You certainly seem to know a lot about this."

"Well I don't know a lot about technology," Mike admitted. "But I do know a lot about video games."

"Spend a lot of time playing them, do you?"

"Yeah."

"Well, so do most of the kids in this room. What is your game about by the way?"

"Well, it's a first person game where you have to find this ancient treasure. It's locked in this temple and you have to get it, but there are these monsters that try to stop you."

"Interesting. I like your use of a sword in place of a gun. Not a lot of people your age might do that."

"I've always found a sword is a pretty good weapon to have against monsters."

"Hmm. Those monsters you designed look interesting. They actually look like the monsters that attack the city sometimes."

"That's where I got the inspiration," Mike admitted.

"Very good," Mr. Molina said nodding. "If you want art to really imitate life you could add a few power rangers in there."

Mike laughed. Mr. Molina walked away to comment on another student. The green ranger returned to his game.

Mia wasn't very fond of math. She found numbers tended to cause headaches and aggregation, but she had once passed FST with an A. Granted it was an A-, but that was still pretty good. She took notes in her notebook, copying the problem the teacher was demonstrating on the board.

"Ok class," Mrs. Wallace said turning to face them. "Suppose a box contains three balls, one red, one blue and one white. One ball is selected, its color is observed, and then the ball is placed back in the box. The balls are scrambled and again a ball is selected and its color is observed. What is the sample space of the experiment?"

Mia did the work in her notebook. She raised her hand. Mrs. Wallace smiled at her. "Mia? Why don't you come and write the answer on the board?"

Mia got up and wrote her answer. "S={RR, RB, RW, BB, BW, WR, WR, WW}," she said reading her answer.

"That is correct," the teacher said. "Thank you Mia. You way sit down now."

Mia sat down feeling proud. Statistics wasn't one of her favorite subjects, or even her best, but she was happy she hadn't gotten it wrong. The teacher passed out a worksheet and assigned pages out of the textbook. Mia began working on her paper. Someone was whispering her name. She looked up and saw the girl next to her was smiling.

"Nice one," she said. "You're pretty smart."

"Not really. I'm just lucky."

"I'll say. I've already taken this class once, but I can't seem to get it."

"I'm sure you will eventually."

"Thanks. I'm Ava by the way."

"Nice to meet you."

"You too."

Emily was enjoying her gym class so far. It had been a while since she'd played soccer. Of course it was pretty dangerous to play inside. After they stretched and ran, much to the grumbling of the class, the gym teachers had picked two captains. The captains had then begun choosing players.

Emily luckily wasn't the last person chosen. When she got picked she stood in the line bend the captain. That was when she saw the quiet girl, the one from art class. She smiled. They continued down the line until it was just the quiet girl and another boy left. The opposing captain picked the boy. The quiet girl joined their line, and their captain, Dawson, gave the positions. He put Emily on defense with two other girls. The quiet girl was put in the goal.

"There goes our chances of winning," a boy grumbled.

"Yeah," the one next to him said. "Watch, she'll have a muscle spasm and miss the ball."

Emily wanted to say something, but wasn't sure what to say. They went to their positions and the game started. All through the game the other team scored points. The first time Quiet Girl tried to catch it, but her hands jerked away at the last second and the ball went into the goal. This was a common theme throughout the game.

Now as Emily stood in the girls locker room, it looked just like the boys' only the lockers were pink, she waited for the lunch bell and watched the quiet girl. She was surprised that she still didn't know the girl's name. She walked over to her. Just as she reached her though, the bell rang and the girl darted out before Emily could say a word. The yellow ranger frowned and followed the river kids heading for the cafe.

When she got there, she got in the long line to get her lunch. As she stood there, she looked for any of her friends. She could see Mike had already gotten his lunch and was sitting with a couple guys. Mia was nowhere to be found, but then again this was like finding a needle in a hay stack.

"Hey," the boy behind her said. "Blondie, the line is moving."

"Oh, sorry," Emily mumbled as she moved up the line. She chose something wrapped in gold tinfoil, some peaches, baby carrots, and a milk. She paid her money then went to find a place to sit. She spotted Mia. The pink ranger was sitting with a group of kids across the room from Mike. Emily wanted to go sit with them, but felt like she would be intruding. Then she saw the quiet girl. She was sitting alone again table, reading as she ate.

Emily walked over and sat down with her. "Hi," she said. "My name is Emily."

The quiet girl put her book down. She closed it and put her trash on her tray. "I'm done," she mumbled getting up. She left the table and threw her trash away, then left the cafe.

Emily sat there, alone, feeling hurt. She unwrapped her lunch, a chicken burger, and took a bite. She immediately made a face. _I forgot how awful school lunch tastes._

Mike was eating pizza for lunch, go figure. He sat with Roger, and a couple of Roger's friends. Their names were Leo, Leon, and Linus. They all had dark brown hair and amber eyes. _Are they all related?_ He wondered. He glanced around and saw Mia sitting with a group of kids. _Where's Em? I thought she had this lunch._

"Hey dude," Roger said.

"Yeah?" Mike said.

"You alright? I asked something, and you didn't answer."

"Sorry," Mike said. "Just thinking about something?"

"Something," Leo said, or was he Linus?

"Or someone," said Leon, maybe he was Leo.

"A girl perhaps?" Linus asked.

_No wait, he has that birthmark Roger pointed out. He must be Leo._ Mike smiled. "Maybe it is...maybe it isn't."

"TMI," Leo said. "TMI."

Mike thought about this, before realizing what he'd actually said.

Mia laughed as Seth made a face at her food. "How can you eat that stuff?"

"I'm hungry," she said simply.

"It's not food. It's high processed frogs and fish guts."

"Being a bit of a drama queen are we?" Mia asked laughing.

"Nope. Just telling the truth."

"Well I already ate it."

"It was nice knowing you then," he said soberly.

Mia laughed. Seth was a lot of fun. He acted goofy, but still managed to maintain some air of maturity. She heard the bell ring and got up to dump her tray. Her third class had gone well, considering she hadn't flailed at anything. She put her tray on top of the pile and made her way through to the doors. She checked her schedule again. _Biology next._ Just when she was about to ask someone where to go someone came up behind her.

"Hi Mia."

She jumped a bit. "Oh, Jaxon. You scared me."

"Sorry," he said smiling. "Where you heading?"

"Biology in room 13."

"That's near my class. I can walk you part of the way there."

"Thanks."

They walked in silence for a minute. "Hey, Mia," Jaxon said.

"Yeah?"

"I saw you eating with Seth."

"Yeah. He's in my first class. He's really nice."

"I know he seems it, but trust me, that boy is bad news. He's one of those people who pretends to be your friend, but will stab you in the back first chance he gets."

Mia frowned. "Really? He seems nice."

"He's just a good actor. Trust me you're better off without him around."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Positive. You should stay away from him." They reached her class and parted ways. "Remember what I said," Jaxon said as he disappeared.

Mia walked into her next class, thinking it over. _Seth seems so nice. There's no way he's as bad as Jaxon says. Right?_

Ok, so if there's something wrong with the math problem, just ignore it. I got the problem and answer from a digital text book. I know none of that stuff. Please review!


	15. The Fourth Classes

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Fourteen: The Fourth Classes

A/N:hey guys! Here's the next update. Enjoy!

The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden sat in chemistry wondering why he was taking it. All he had done so far was take notes on monatomic ions. He'd never heard of them before, and quite honestly was sort of glad. They aren't exactly all that interesting.

"Now class," Mr. Dune was saying, "Cations are positively charged ions found in what two groups of the periodic table? Um...Jayden?"

Jayden looked up. _Why the heck does this keep happening?_ "Uh...I...I don't know," he said.

"Would anyone like to help him out?" Jayden looked around, waiting for someone to raise their hand and take the spotlight off of him. No did. "Well Jayden it appears your new classmates have thrown you under the bus here."

Jayden felt betrayed, which didn't make any sense since he didn't know any of these people. He twirled his pencil in his fingers nervously. The teacher turned away and began lecturing again, answering the question he'd asked. Jayden head someone laugh softly. He turned around and saw a couple of kids sneering at him. He shook them off and turned back around. He continued to take notes.

Only a few seconds later he felt something hit him in the back of the head. He turned around and saw the same kids laughing at him. He looked down and saw a crumpled up paper ball. One of the kids, a boy, made a motion for Jayden to read it. He picked it up and uncrumpled it. _Nice one, Moron. _"Great," he sighed.

"Jayden?" Mr. Dune asked. He looked up. The whole class looked at Jayden. "Do you have something to share?" Jayden glanced back at the kids who had been laughing at him. The boy stared at him, as if daring Jayden to say something. He turned back to the front. "Well?"

"No," he said. "I don't."

"To answer your question, I choose to cover the Cold War, because that was all about government," Mr. Simpson said to a boy in the front. "Now, will you all turn your attention to the lesson of the day."

Lauren looked down. _Some lesson,_ she thought. _This is nothing but a political cartoon._ She glanced around. Students were looking studying theirs. She studied it. It showed two people arm wrestling, each had their free hand on a button. The most intriguing thing though was that they were both sitting on bomb marked with an 'H'.

"Now," Mr. Simpson said. "Who can tell me who the two people are in this picture?" A girl raised her hand. "Jessica?"

"JFK and the leader of Russia, I don't know his name though."

"You're half correct."

"Half?"

"Yes, half. Who can tell me what was wrong with her answer?" A boy raised his hand. "Yes, Randall."

"She said, Russia. The other person is the leader of the Soviet Union."

"They're the same thing," Jessica said.

"Not quite. Just remember I would count the answer Russia wrong on a test. Moving on," he said clapping his hands together, then rubbing them, "who can tell me what they are sitting on?"

"H bombs," someone said.

"Well yes, but be more specific."

"Hydrogen bombs," another girl said.

"Correct. This scene depicts the two countries, represented by their leaders, arm wrestling, fingers ready to launch nuclear weaponry. This very accurately depicts the type of tension during the Cold War. Now, the Cold War was very long, and it was mainly over one reason. And that reason was..." He took a dramatic pause. "Government people! Government! It was about democracy versus communism." He wrote the two words on the board.

"This unit we are going to study how both types work, countries, present and past, that have instituted this, and as a final project, you are going to write me two stories. One about a communist rule, and one about a democratic rule. Now, lets get to the nitty gritty. There are some very basic differences between the two..."

Antonio bit his lip as he connected the wires. They sent a small electrical shock. He snapped his hand back, shaking it. "Really?" He said. "I'm a tech pro, why do you insist on electrocuting me when I try to connect you?"

"Having trouble?" Mr. Hare asked strolling up, hands behind his back.

"Yeah," Antonio said. "I've built things before. I've been electrocuted before, but this...thing is giving me a lot of trouble."

"Probably because you've never worked with this kind of technology. It's solar technology after all, and this is new even for me. And I'm a teacher. Keep at it, I'm sure this will start coming to you." He strolled away, twirling his cane as he did.

_Do all of my teachers carry sticks?_ Antonio wondered. He turned back to his project. The class had been assigned to build small, solar powered cars almost from scratch. The only thing they didn't have to completely build was the solar panels.

"Are you usually better with technology?" someone asked.

He looked up and saw Tiara Sterling smiling at him. "Oh, hi. Your name's Tiara right?"

"That's what they tell me. And your Antonio."

"Yup. The one and only."

"You didn't answer my question," she said.

"Oh yeah. Well usually I'm the best out of all of us."

"And by all of us, you mean you, Jayden, Lauren, Kevin, and your other friends?"

"Yeah."

"Well this class is pretty hard."

"Why are you taking it then. You look a little young."

She shrugged. "I'm just really smart like that. Plus I love engineering. I think I might become an engineer when I graduate."

"Good luck with that," Antonio said.

"Thanks," she said, flashing him another goofy grin.

He looked down at his work. _Man. She has the same smile as Lauren._

Philosophy was different than Kevin had originally thought it was going to be. He'd thought it would be all about debating and talking. He'd anticipated not enjoying it, because he had a difficult time accepting new people and ideas. He didn't like the class, that prediction had been right, but it wasn't because of what he had thought. It was because the class was boring. Plain and simple. The teacher, a middle aged man with a bad comb-over, had simply wrote page numbers and 'all questions' on the board.

Kevin had stood there, not knowing what to do. The teacher looked up at him. "Are you lost, or just dumb?"

Kevin wasn't sure how to answer at first. "I'm...uh...I'm new to the class."

The teacher sighed. "Good for you. I'm Mr. Allen. No, don't tell me your name," he said holding his hand up. "It's not important. Just find a seat. I have three rules in this class. One, no leaving for anything, unless you're on your deathbed. Two, stay silent the entire time. No talking under any circumstances. Three, if you have a question, just look it up." He waved his hand, dismissing Kevin.

"But where..."

"Breaking rules already? I should mention the penalty for breaking rules is five days detention. Now go."

Kevin decided he didn't like this man and spotted a shelf full of textbooks. He grabbed one then found an empty seat. He sat down and opened his book to the page. It was about the life of Socrates. _Wonderful._

He sat reading, when the girl next to him slipped a note across the table. He picked it up and slipped it into his book. He opened it stealthily and read it.

_Nice guy huh? I think he takes teaching lessons from our science teacher._

_Wait, what? Who are you?_ He wrote back and passed the note back to the girl.

It returned a second later.

_Brooke._

Emily was about 80% sure she was in the right class. She had taken Geometry before and knew the amount of algebraic skills required other class, but so far all she had done was solve equations to find the sides of triangles.

She solved the last problem on the paper, then flipped it over. There was more. "Of course," she whispered to herself. "It would be a shame if I didn't have to thousands of these problems."

"Don't I know it," someone next to her said. She looked up lost her breath for a moment. A boy with shaggy dirty-blond hair, peach skin, and sky blue eyes smiled back. "I'm Todd. Do you have a name?"

"I...I'm...E...ee..."

"Well nice to meet you Ee."

She blushed. "No! I...I mean my name is Emily."

"Emily. That's a pretty name."

She blushed even more. "Th...thanks," she said, still a little breathless. She found herself staring at his arms, which showed nice muscles from his t-shirt.

"You new?" She could only nod. "Cool. So, is your personality as beautiful as you?"

She blushed even more deeply. "I...I...I have a boyfriend!" She said suddenly snapping back to her senses. "L...h...Mike! His name is Mike!"

"Lucky guy," Todd said.

_That could have gone better._

Mike tapped his hockey stick off the ground. So far floor hockey was proving to not be as fun as he thought it would be. The teachers had divided them up into three teams. Right now his team playing, but no one would let him near the ball.

A couple of girls were using some serious moves. "Man," someone said. "They're good."

Mike looked around and saw a girl about his age with dark hair. "Yah."

The gym teacher blew the whistle. "Ok, team one off. Team three, on." Mike threw his hockey stock down and went to sit on the side of the gym. Just as he did the gym teacher blew the whistle again. "Scratch that, it's time to change up."

Mike sighed. "This guy needs to make up his mind."

"No kidding," another guy said.

They went into the locker room and Mike opened the locker he was sharing with another boy. He started to change back into his regular clothes.

"Hey," his locker buddy, Shane, said. "I saw you talking to Ashley earlier."

"Yeah and?"

"Be careful around her. That girl is trouble. She loves to start shit and make her boyfriend jealous."

"Dude, relax. I have a girlfriend."

"Well that's good for you, but that won't stop him. Just remember that I warned you."

"Sure," Mike said. "Who's her boyfriend by the way?"

"His name's Todd. You'll know him. All the girls will be swooning over him."

"Swooning?"

"I swear, it's what they do. Every girl he meets."

_Man he must have it good,_ Mile thought. He checked his schedule. "Hey. Where's the Spanish classroom?"

"Yeah, I'll show you. You might need help finding the building."

"Thanks," Mike said as the bell rang and he followed Shane out.

Before you ask, I didn't cover Mia's class because I didn't want the chapter to be too long, but she'll get a good class next chapter, promise! If it really bigs you just let me know. on that note don't forget to review! Please!


	16. The Fifth Classes

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Sixteen: The Fifth Classes

A/N: hey peeps! Thanks reading and reviewing! Please continue! It makes me happy!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mia walked into her astronomy class. After an uneventful biology class, she was excited for astronomy. She walked up to the teacher sitting in the front of the room. He looked up form a paper he was grading. Mia caught sight of the name at the top. _Lauren Shiba._ "Uh...hi. My name is Mia. This is my first day in this class."

He shook her hand. "Nice to meet you Mia. My name is Mr. Mastracio. Just grab a textbook from the shelf and take a seat."

"Ok," Mia said. She walked over and grabbed a book off the shelf and found a seat. Kids were talking and hanging around before class started. A group of boys came in the door.

"Brad," Mr. Mastracio said, "are we going to have issues today?"

"Are you going to assign homework?" Brad asked.

"Possibly."

"Then we'll possibly have problems." He same over and sat next to Mia. Two of his friends sat in front of them at the next table. The other two lounged on a table next to theirs. "Anyways," Brad was saying. "After lunch I decided to have a talk with Rodriguez's new friend."

"You mean the new Hispanic kid?"

"Yup."

_Oh no,_ Mia thought. _They're talking about Antonio._

"Bet he was plenty scared."

"He didn't look it."

"Probably was. I have a class with elfin of the other new kids. His names like Jarrod or something."

_Jayden._

"He's an idiot. Must've been homeschooled or something. You should've seen the look he had when the teacher called on him."

"Homeschooled kids can be smart," another boy supplied.

"Yeah but he wasn't. Whoever taught him all this time must've been an awful teacher."

Mia was now gripping her binder. "Shut up," she said.

The boys stopped laughing and looked at her as if they'd just realized she was there. "What did you say?" Brad asked.

"I said shut up," Mia said looking at him. "You don't know ether of them."

"Nether do you."

"Actually I do. They're my friends. I don't like hearing you talk about them like that."

"What are you going to do about it?" Brad challenged.

Mia bit her cheek. Then she smiled wickedly. She took one of her pencils and placed it between her fingers, then easily snapped it in half. She threw the pieces in front of him and got up to moves seats.

"Hey!" Brad said grabbing her wrist.

Mia twisted her wrist and freed it, then proceeded to kick Brads chair out from under him. He fell forward, his face hitting the table, then the floor. Mia bent down to pick up her bag. "Never trust a petty girl," she whispered in his ear for good measure. She turned and walked away. _I didn't want to hurt him,_ she thought as she sat down in a new seat. _But he was bad mouthing Antonio, Jayden, and Ji. Besides,_ she reasoned as the bell rang. _You never challenge a samurai's honor._ She smiled a small smile. _This class is one of the most interesting so far._

Jayden was getting antsy. He wiggled around in his desk and tapped his pencil off the top. He wasn't used to sitting down this long. He was used to training all day. _How do people do this?_ He tried to focus on the question on the test in front of him. He had known that he was screwed when the teacher started out by saying, "You should all remember this from geometry..."

He glanced at the desk next to him where Kevin was punching numbers and other things into his calculator. Jayden sighed and started at the test. _Find the tan of angle A? What the hell does that mean?_ He rubbed his forehead. _This was possibly one of the worst ideas Ji could've ever had. I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know any of this._

Kevin glance up and saw the look in Jayden's face. He felt sorry for the red ranger. He looked at the teacher's desk. Their teacher was busy grading papers. Kevin silently slipped out a sheet of notebook paper and began writing.

Jayden looked at Kevin again. The blue ranger crumpled up a piece of paper and dropped it on the floor, then kicked it over to Jayden. He glanced around and saw no one had noticed. _Probably because we're in the back._ He picked it up and opened it under his desk. His eyes widened. _The answers to the test!_ He glanced at Kevin who was bringing his paper to the front. Jayden bit his lip. Cheating was wrong...but he couldn't risk blowing his cover or standing out. He sighed and began writing the answers down on his test.

Lauren sat in the back of her calculus class wanting to throw something at someone. So far this class had proven to be absolutely boring. The teacher had taught the lesson, then handed out worksheets. She looked at Antonio who sat in the desk next to hers. He was bent over his paper in concentration. She smiled. _He's so cute when he's thinking._

Antonio wrote something on a piece of notebook paper, folded it up, and tossed it on to her desk. She quickly slipped it under her desk and unfolded it. _You understand all of this?_ she read. She scribbled a reply and tossed it back.

Antonio opened it and read it. _No. You?_

Lauren opened the note when it was tossed back. _Yeah. It's all pretty simple stuff._

Antonio opened it when she passed it back to him. _Define simple._

Lauren unfolded it. _This is. It's easier then other things I've done._ she smiled.

_Antonio, you routinely do things classified as impossible._

_ Exactly._

_ You, my dear, are extremely big headed._

_ I'm pretty good looking too._

Laure smiled and looked at him. He grinned back, then got up to turn his paper in. She shook her head. _He's so smart. Smarter then he lets everyone else believe._

Emily enjoyed the colorful posters on the walls of the classroom. They proclaimed things in Spanish. The whole room was full of stuff in Spanish. The books in the back were written completely in Spanish. She'd check before class started. _Antonio would have a field day in here._ she thought. She returned to her work.

Their teacher was lecturing about how religion was an important part of life in Mexico. Emily glanced out the window. The class wasn't boring, just not interesting. She looked out over the wall surrounding the school grounds and the forest. She sat up a little straighter. It almost looked like there was something moving. Something big. Something giant.

_Nighlock,_ she thought. She saw another big thing near it. It was to far to make out specifics, but she hoped it was the doubles taking care of the apparent nighlock attack. Her hand went to her pocket where her samuraizer was hidden. She slipped her hand in and squeezed it. _It feels weird not to be there,_ she thought. She smiled and almost laughed. _If it feels weird for me I can't imagine what Lauren and Jayden must be thinking._

Mike was sitting in Spanish class amazed at everything. The language was more complicated then he'd originally thought. He knew some Spanish just from hanging around Antonio all this time, but this stuff was amazing. He turned another page. He had told the teacher he had taken Spanish before, which wasn't a lie. He had, he just hadn't passed it.

He matched another Vocab word to what he hoped was the goth definition. He got up and passed the paper in. He sat down and checked his schedule. He had English class next. _Wonderful._

"Ok, class," the teacher, Señora Mosley said. "Your homework tonight is to translate your story book."

Mike nodded. _Well that explains why she had me pick one out in the beginning of class._ The bell rang. Mike got up and left the class. He remembered the way back to the original building, and was confident he would be able to find his way around by looking at classroom numbers. Someone bumped into him and knocked him down. He looked around. "Who did that?" No one stood out.

He sighed and got up and continued to class. _Man, whatever the nighlocks are after, it'd better be worth all of this._

Sorry if Mike and Emily are getting jipped. I haven't been able to think of a good scene for them. Please review!


	17. The Last Classes

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Seventeen: The Last Classes

A/N:woohoo! We've made it to the end of the day. Glad you all stuck with me this far. please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mike sat in English class trying to resist the urge to throw his workbook across the room. So far he'd only been in class for a total of about 20 minutes, and he already wanted out. He circled yet another grammar mistake in the paragraph he was supposed to be editing. "I hate grammar," he muttered.

"Don't we all?" Roger asked. Mike smiled. He and been pleasantly surprised to see his new friend in this class.

"Why could they just leave it like commas and stuff?"

"Because they want is to suffer. Seriously, who cares about the direct object, or indirect predicate or whatever."

"Not me," Mike said.

"Exactly," Roger said.

Mike shifted in his seat. The intercom on the wall went off. Most people glanced up at it, but there was no one speaking. _Ok then,_ Mike thought. He went back to doing his work. The class continued to work quietly. At one point a kid in the back raised his hand.

"Yes, Adam?" Mrs. Appleby asked.

"Why exactly do we need to learn this?" He asked. "It all seems so...pointless."

"Well, I could say its because you'll need it on your SATs, but you've already taken those. I suppose I could say that it helps in prove your writing and makes it more interesting."

"But couldn't we just learn about creative writing then?"

"Look, I know this is tedious, and it doesn't seem very relevant right now, but like it or not we speak English. So, you have learn about it. You must learn about speaking properly, and writing properly."

The kid let the conversation drop there, but Mike knew from personal experience that if he'd kept arguing it would've gotten him nowhere. Teachers taught what they did, and were not often swayed from that. "Unfortunately," Mike muttered to himself.

"Ok Emily, you're next," the girl in Emily's group said. She handed a handkerchief to her. Emily tied it around her eyes. Her class was learning about natural resources. As a lab they each had been given a bin full of little black rocks and white beans. They had to "mine" the beans with different methods. Emily's group was doing it with plastic spoons while blindfolded to represent using dynamite.

"Ok, said a boy with red hair whose name she'd already forgotten, Ethan possibly. "Ready set go." Emily began spooning the rocks and beans out of the bin. She and a boy named Walton were doing it together. She wasn't sure if she was even getting any in the bin at all. "Stop."

Emily put her spoon down and took off her blindfold. She smiled. Walton stared laughing. "I think we got a little the bin," he said. The two of them had made a nice mess, getting probably 30% of the rock and beans they'd just mined on the table. As the others began counting while the two of them picked the mess up.

"This is certainly interesting," Emily said.

"I know it," he said. "Labs are the only reason I like science. It's so hands on. Much better than just doing worksheets and taking notes all period."

"We still do a bit of that," Ethan commented as they counted the beans, or ore, that had survived the mining experience. "We got 120 this time."

"Our total is 450," Tiffany, the only other girl in the group said.

"How many freaking beans are in here?" Walton asked.

"Also remember we are on year 4 of mining."

"Still," he muttered, donning his blindfold. "Ok, Ethan, you can join us this time."

Emily smiled as she put her blindfold back on.

"Il libro è sulla scrivania," Antonio said.

"Sì. Ottimo," Signora Bachavelli said. "You have quite an ear for languages Antonio."

"Not really," Antonio said. He had only been in his Italian class for a half hour and already he could keep up with the rest of the class. He didn't want to tell the teacher he was already fluent in Spanish, which is why he was picking up Italian so easily.

Signora passed out their worksheets. Antonio looked at it. _Match the picture to the word. Sounds simple enough._ He began matching words to what he believed was the right picture. His mind started to wander he started thinking about Lauren. He missed her. He couldn't wait until he saw her again. He glanced at the clock. _Still got 30 minutes._ He sighed inwardly in frustration.

Sitting down in school had never been his specialty. He'd always wanted to get out and go play or something. He would bounce up and down in his seat, full of energy. It had once gotten so bad the school told his dad they thought he had ADHD. He smiled _Good times,_ he thought. _Good times._

Lauren was glad her samurai training had prepared her for at least one thing in this building, at that was learning to speak Japanese. She could already read and write in it, and found that this was a big help. The teacher, Whitebottom everyone called him, was a very nice guy. She studied the worksheet she was supposed to be doing.

_Find the Japanese word for week._ She studied the words in the word bank. _Found it!_ She put it on the line, then moved in to the next activity. _Fill on the calendar with the months, and then the days of the week._ She began doing so.

"Of all the stupid classes to get stuck in," the kid next to her muttered. "It had it be this one. Learning a stupid language I'll probably never even use."

_Then why do you sign up for it?_ Lauren wondered. It had been evident to her throughout the day that these kids spent quite a bit time complaining about their school work. _Sort of understandable,_ she thought. _But if any one and a reason to complain, it's me and Jayden. At least these guys have and been doing this for a while now._

Film Appreciation was exactly what Mia thought it was going to be. Watching movies. You also had to write an essay about them. But it was a small price to pay. Today they were watching an Italian film called Cinema Paradiso. It was really good so far. The subtitles were definitely helping. _Toto is so cute,_ Mia thought when she saw the little boy who was the main character. _Too bad he gets into so much trouble._

Kevin had always like world history. He found it interesting just learning about what life was like in the past. He opened his book and started doing the reading. Greece was one of his favorites because they invented the Olympics. _Smart people the Greeks,_ he thought. _I wonder if we'll learn about Japan? I could tell these people more things than the teacher probably could._ He smiled at the thought.

Jayden sighed. He felt like banging his head against his desk. He didn't know why he was in creative writing. He wasn't creative. Not by a long shot. He looked at the assignment on the board. _Write a story with a superhero of your choice._ Jayden looked at his blank page. _Ok, I don't know anything about superheroes._ He glanced around the room. Everybody else was already writing away and had been for a while now.

"Jayden," Mrs. Kane said. "There's nothing on your paper."

"I...it's just writers block," Jayden said.

"Do you have a hero picked?"

"Not yet," he said.

"Well, I'm sure you'll think of one. Boys seem to have an easier time remembering their favorite superheroes from when they were little than girls. No offense to us."

Jayden smiled. He turned back to his paper. _My childhood wasn't exactly spent playing with action figures and reading comic books._ The bell rang. Jayden sighed with relief. _Finally._ He got up grabbing his stuff.

"Class your stories are due tomorrow," Mrs. Kane said as they left. "Have a good night." Jayden was swept into the river of kids down the hall. He walked out the door and looked around. He couldn't see his friends. He decided to meet them by the gates. _We really should've had space to meet before the day started._

Jayden stood by the gates. He saw Tiara was leaving the school. He waved at her. She waved back. He smiled. "Waving at pretty girls, amigo?" Jayden turned and saw Antonio, hand-in-hand with Lauren.

Jayden smiled. "Just waving to Tiara. Keep your eyes peeled for the others."

Just as he said that Kevin came over to them. "How the heck do they fit this many kids in this school?"

"I've been asking myself that all day."

Mike and Emily joined the group. "It's about time," Kevin said.

"Sorry," Mike said. "I had to find Emily."

"Wish someone would've found me," Mia said running up. "I think I nearly got lost almost three different times."

"Easy thing to do with all these kids," Mike said as they left.

"And the multiple buildings," Lauren added.

Jayden smiled. "Come on guys," he said. "We can still train for a few hours before dinner."

A/N: if you've never seen Cinema Paradiso I highly recommend it. They little boy looks just like Antonio when he was little and he's soo cute!


	18. After-school Discussion

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Eighteen: After-school Discussion

A/N: alright, so this chapter is short, but the next one will be longer. Promise. Anyways read on!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

When the ranger got back to the house Ji was waiting for them. "How did it go?" He asked them.

"All things considered it went well," Jayden said.

"Good," Ji said. "Then there's hope our plan will work."

"He had doubts?" Mike muttered as the rangers went to change.

Jayden smiled. Once in his room he was happy to get out of his school clothes and into his gii. He went out to the yard. He grabbed a katana and started fighting a practice dummy. Lauren and Antonio came out. The two of them grabbed katanas and started sparring each other. Emily and Mia were the next ones out. They were talking about something Jayden was sure he didn't want to know about. They grabbed their swords and started practicing on each other. The last ones out were Kevin and Mike.

"Taking our time are we?" Antonio asked as he blocked a blow from Lauren.

"You know it," Mike said. He and Kevin started sparring. "So," he green ranger said, "meet any girls today?"

"Really?" Kevin asked him, taking a shot towards his head.

"What?" Mike asked ducking. "It's a legitimate question."

"No," Kevin said, swinging his sword towards Mike again. "I didn't meet any girls in the way you're implying."

"Lame," Mike said.

Kevin rolled his eyes. He shot a glanced towards Lauren and Antonio who were now wrestling on the ground. Mike saw and started laughing. Kevin smiled. Those two were always together. You pretty much and to pry them apart with the jaws of life. He retuned to his sparring, catching Mike momentarily off guard.

Jayden stopped for a minute. He saw everyone was busy making-up for the practice they'd lost that day. Everyone except Antonio and Lauren who appeared to have forgotten their swords and were trying pin each other to the ground. "Guys," Jayden said. "I think we should be actually training here. We need to make up for lost time."

"One sec," Lauren said. She pushed Antonio off of her, then jumped on him, pinning him to the ground. "I win," she declared.

"Ok," Antonio said reluctantly. "But I'll get you next time."

"You hold on to that."

"You know I will."

Lauren smiled. They kissed for a minute, then she let him up and they resumed their spar. Jayden shook a head and went back to the dummy. Lauren was much more carefree since she and Antonio had declared their love for each other.

Emily and Mia had watched Antonio and Lauren's little wrestling match, and the make-out session after it. "They're so cute," Emily said as they resumed sparring.

"I know it," Mia said. "They're perfect for each other."

"Completely," Emily said.

"So, did you make lots of new friends?"

"Um..." Emily said uncertainly. "Not really."

"Oh," Mia said her smile fading a little. "Don't worry. It's only the first day. I'm sure you'll make some soon."

"I'm not so sure about that," Emily said. "I'm not very good at making friends."

"Come on," Mia said. "There's gotta be at least a dozen kids in that school that want to be fiends with you. Just give a bit more time."

"Ok," Emily said feeling a little better. _Mia's right,_ she thought. _It was only the first day. Things will get better._

The rangers trained until Ji wanted them they had 5 minutes until dinner. They changed, the sat down to eat. Dinner was spaghetti and meatballs. Jayden smiled as he began to eat. "Is how was everyone's day?" He asked.

"Interesting," Antonio said. "My marine bio teacher's off his meds. So to speak."

"He can't be that bad," Kevin said.

"He carries a stick around and threatens to hit people with it."

"With the way some of those kids are, it's not surprising. Did you see what football-guy did at lunch today?"

"Oh yes," Antonio said. "I saw."

"Wait, what happened?" Mike asked.

Kevin told him about the little scuffle. Emily shook her head. "Some people."

"Luckily none of us had to deal with bullies today," Kevin said.

_Sure,_ Mia thought. _Let's go with that._ Emily looked at her plate, and Jayden suddenly became very interested in his shoelaces. No one seemed to notice this though. "Anyways," Jayden said, hoping to move onto another subject. "Did anyone notice anything out of place? Anything the nighlocks would be interested in?"

"Nothing to report," Mike said.

"Nope," said Mia.

"Nada," Antonio said.

"No," Lauren said.

"Nothing out of the ordinary," Kevin said. "It just seemed like a normal school."

"Just remember to keep you eyes and ears open," Jayden said. "Even the most normal of things, or people, could be hiding something completely out of the ordinary."

Antonio smiled. The rangers all knew a little something about that. "Here here," he said. "So Mike, did you like Spanish?"

"I don't see how you speak it," he said. "It seems so complicated."

"It's not when you get used to it. But just remember I've been able to speak it my whole life."

"True," Mike admitted.

"Did you enjoy Italian?" Jayden asked.

"It's pretty easy," Antonio said.

"So is Japanese," Lauren said.

"Still cheating," Kevin muttered.

Lauren smiled. "Give it up, will you."

"What? It is."

"No it's not. I can't speak it fluently."

"Cheating," was all Kevin said.

Lauren sighed and shook her head. "Never mind."

Jayden smiled, but he didn't have an opinion. He wanted to agree with Kevin, but he supposed people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones.

"So," Mike said after they'd finished eating and helped Ji clean up. "Do we have to do the homework we were given?"

"Yes," Ji said.

"Why?!"

"Because your disguise is ordinary high school students, and ordinary high school students do homework."

"Not all do them do," Antonio whispered to Lauren as the two of them went to his room.

"Come on Mike," Emily said grabbing his hand and dragging him away.

"This sucks," Mike said.

"Don't I know it," Jayden said, heading to tackle homework for the first time.


	19. Homework Time

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Nineteen: Homework Time

A/N: hello amazing people! I have won my battle with writers block and finished the next chapter! Thanks for all the reviews. Read on!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden joined Antonio and Lauren in Antonio's room. Mostly because figured he would need help, but also to keep an eye on them. Antonio had a book open in his lap and was reading to himself. Lauren was attempting to do her math homework, and Jayden was struggling to write a story. "Hey Antonio," Jayden said.

"Yeah?"

"Do know anything about super heroes?"

"A little. Why?"

"I need to write a story about one."

"And you can't think of one?"

"No."

Antonio thought it over for a minute. "Spider-Man," he said finally.

Lauren smiled. "Why him?"

Antonio shrugged. "He can shot webs form his hands. How is that not cool?"

Jayden made a face. "Guy whose name has the word spider in it. I don't think so."

Antonio laughed. "Come on Jayden, it's not as if we're talking about an actually spider here. He's just a fictional character that got bitten by a radioactive spider and..."

"Ok, not helping," Jayden said. "Got any other ideas?"

Antonio thought it over. "How about Captain America? There are no spiders involved in his abilities, and he has a cool shield."

"That's more like it," Jayden said. "So what does he do exactly?"

Mike was trying to do his math homework while Emily rested on his legs. "Hey what's 39 divided by 3?" He asked her.

"Why don't you use a calculator?" She suggested.

"But then I have to get up," Mike said.

Emily laughed. "Are you really that lazy? Your bag is three feet away."

"Maybe I want to keep sitting here with you," Mike said.

"Aww," Emily said. "You're sweet."

"You know it," Mike said leaning down and giving her a kiss.

"But you're sill lazy," Emily teased.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in," Mike said.

Kevin came in. "What are you two doing?"

"Homework, unfortunately," Mike replied sighing. "Hey can you grab my bag?"

"Don't do it Kevin," Emily said. "He's just to lazy to get up."

"Well in that case," Kevin said grabbing Mike's bag he placed it in the farthest corner of the room.

"Get out of my room," Mike said.

"No way," Kevin said. "I came to see if ether of you needed help."

"Thanks Kevin, that's sweet."

"Hey!" Mike protested. "I thought I was sweet."

"You're both sweet."

"No, you can't do that."

"Says who?"

"Me!"

"Who made you king?"

"It's my room!"

"So?"

"That's it you get out."

"No. You can't make me."

"Well see about that," Mike said. He dropped his book on the floor and started tickling her.

Kevin shook his head as he watched them. "Shouldn't you two be working?"

"Ok, stop. Mike stop!" Emily said out of breath. "Kevin's right. We need to work. We have to keep up the charade."

Mike made a face. "Gotta say this is possibly one of the worst things we ever had to do."

"It's not that bad," Kevin said. "After all, we have to find out what the nighlocks want."

"But there's nothing there," Mike said. "If it is then it must be every well hidden."

"Made its not an 'it' that they want," Kevin said. "Maybe it's a who."

"You mean the little people who live on the flower?"

Kevin rolled his eyes. "You know what I mean."

"And besides," Emily said. "They lived on a speck, not just the flower."

There was a knock on the door and Mia came in. "Hey. What are you guys doing?"

"Procrastinating," Mike answered. "I am a master at it."

"Well that's true," Kevin admitted.

Mia smiled and sat in the ground next to Kevin. "Every teenager is good at procrastination. It's a common thing."

"Some of us are a little too good," Emily commented looking at Mike.

"Hey it takes talent to do it well like me."

Mia laughed. "At least he's honest about it. I was in complete denial for most of school."

"Me too," Emily said smiling. "I just said I had an organization problem."

"That's fools nobody," Mike commented. "You are a very organized person."

"I never had a procrastination problem," Kevin said.

"Sure you didn't..." Mike said rolling his eyes.

"I didn't."

"Come on Kevin. You never put off doing homework and projects until the last minute?"

"Well...yes. But only because I was so focused on swimming."

"I knew it!" Mike said. "That proves it. Procrastination is universal."

Emily smiled. "Well done. Now I suggest we do this homework, or risk getting in trouble tomorrow."

"You know kids don't do homework in Finland?" Mike asked.

"Too bad we're not there," Kevin said sarcastically.

"Yeah," said Mia. "I'm sure it would be a dream come true for you Mike."

"Absolutely," the green ranger answered. "Now will someone please get me my calculator?"

In Antonio's room, the gold ranger was doing his marine bio homework. "Man I should've taken this class years ago. It's all about fish."

Lauren laughed. "Why am I not surprised you love it?"

"Because you know me so well?" He asked. She smiled and they kissed.

"Alright," Jayden said not looking up from his book. "That's enough of that."

Antonio smiled. "Jealous amigo?"

"Hardly," Jayden answered. "I can't imagine why you guys are always making out."

"You will someday," Antonio said. "You will someday."

Jayden rolled his eyes. _Sure._

Lauren smiled. _Boys,_ she thought. _Oh how complicated they can be._

Jayden frowned as he tired to comprehend his math homework. "Is this even in English?" he asked.

Antonio looked over the edge of his book. "Yeah, it's pretty simple actually. Just take this and multiply it by that..." Lauren marveled at Antonio's intelligence. She never knew he was that smart. "Understand now?" Antonio asked Jayden.

The red ranger nodded. "Thanks."

"Hey," Antonio said. "You help with symbols all the time, the least I can do is help you with normal stuff."

"It what world is this considered normal?" Jayden asked.

"In world that we are trying to protect," Antonio said.

"If the nighlocks want to destroy this math, the can go right ahead," Jayden said. "I will not stop them."

Antonio started laughing. "And this one of the reason I like you so much."

"Why cause I'm terrible at math?"

"No because only you can make a joke like that sound serious."

"I wasn't joking," Jayden muttered moving on to the next problem, feeling as though his brain was going to explode.

Mike chewed the end of his pencil. He was on his last problem, then he could be done. He'd made it through all the other subjects, but he was stuck on math. He typed a couple of numbers into his calculator. _Yes!_ he thought. _I'm done!_ He wrote the number down hurriedly and stuffed the papers and calculator into his backpack.

"Finished?" Kevin asked.

"You know it," Mike said. "Now I can relax."

Kevin smirked. "Check the time."

Mike looked at his clock. "8:00. Man. How long did that take me?"

Kevin shrugged. "We haven't done it in a while. I'm sure after a few days you'll be better at doing homework."

Mike sighed and sat on his bed. "The unfortunate thing is I think you're right."

Kevin smiled. "I'm going to go. Ji won't let me stay up and train because we all have to get up early again to go to school."

Mike made a face. "That word is evil."

Kevin smiled. "School isn't that bad Mike," he said. "You just hate it because you can't focus."

"I have other reasons," Mike said, thinking of his Algebra 2 teacher.

"Whatever they are get over it," Kevin said. "Whatever is in that school is important."

"If its so important," Mike said. "Then how did the nighlocks find out about it before us?"

"I don't know," Kevin said shaking his head. He got up and left Mike's room, but the green ranger's question was still ringing in his head. _How did they know?_


	20. The Second Day Begins

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty: The Second Day Begins

A/N: hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but here it is! Please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

The next morning the rangers were all up early to get to school. Mike grumbled about it the entire time. "Mike," Jayden said. "I will smack you if you keep complaining." This shut him up for a few minutes. As they ate Jayden thought over what he was going to face in the day. _I really hope this day is as easy as yesterday._

As if reading his thoughts Antonio said, "Don't worry Amigo. You survived the first day. The first three are the worst. But it's all going to get easier. Once the "new kid" stigma wears off."

"New kid stigma?" Kevin asked looking slightly amused.

"Yeah. It's like you walk around with a big mark on you. Everyone kind of watches you, tries to tell if they can befriend you. The first day's the worst because everyone stares at you, but after you settle into the rhythm of everything the effect wears off. You know?"

"No," Mike said.

"Oh forgot, you guys didn't transfer schools every six months."

"I'm sure it want that often," Mia said.

"It felt like it."

"So you consider yourself an expert in being a new kid?" Lauren asked.

"Yes. I've done it enough to know how it works."

They didn't talk for a bit after this. Jayden wondered what it must've been like for Antonio to transfer schools a lot. Moving from place to place. Always making new friends. _I couldn't do it,_ he decided. But he knew Antonio probably would've preferred stay in one place longer.

They finished their breakfasts, eating more than they did the day before, and grabbed their bags. "Don't forget," Ji told them. "Keep you eyes and ears open. And don't blow you covers."

"Why are you looking at me?!" Mike asked.

Emily smiled and grabbed his hand. "Come on," she said pulling him along. "Before Ji pins something else on you."

They set their doubles up again, then left. As they walked Lauren and Antonio held hands. Antonio could feel how nervous she was. "Laur, relax," he said. "It going to be fine. You survived yesterday, you can face today."

"It still feels weird. Like they know I'm different or something."

"Hate to break it to you sweetie, but these kids don't have special powers or anything. They're just regular people. No one can tell. We don't stick out that much."

"But we do stick out."

"Only because we're new. Don't worry." He kissed her hand. "It'll be ok. And worth it when we find what we're looking for." He slipped his hand out of hers and put his arm around her shoulders. She smiled and leaned against him as they walked.

Jayden was at the head of the group next to Kevin. "You nervous too?" the blue ranger asked.

"No," Jayden lied. "I'm fine. I did ok yesterday, so today can't be any worse."

"That's the spirit," Kevin said.

As they neared the school they could see kids going in through the gates. Just as he was about to go in Jayden got the feeling he was being watched. He looked around. He eyes narrowed when he saw Deker almost completely hidden in the bushes across the road. "Jayden!" Mike called. "Let's go!"

Jayden turned away and walked through the gates. The rangers took their spots on the steps like they had the day before. Jayden studied the kids. He could see people pretty much doing what they had been yesterday. Even Brad was once again excessively tacking people in his football game. "Hi Jayden," someone said. Jayden looked around and realized there was someone standing in front of him.

"Hi Lorrie," he said smiling friendly.

"What's up?" she asked him sitting on the step below him.

"Waiting for the bell," he answered. "You?"

"Just talking to some strange guy I met yesterday."

He smiled when he realized she was talking about him. Kevin casually kicked Jayden's foot. "What...oh. Lorrie these are my friends. That's Kevin, Mia, Emily, Mike, Antonio, and the one hanging off of him is my sister Lauren."

"Nice to meet you all," Lorrie said. "Did you all start here yesterday?"

"Yeah," Mia said.

A strange look crossed Lorrie's face. "Huh. Strange. We never get that many new kids in one day. Especially ones that already know each other so well."

"How do you know we know each other well?" Kevin asked.

"Well she's holding his hand," she said pointing to Mike and Emily. "She's hanging off of him," she pointed to Antonio and Lauren who were practically cuddling. "And you all just sit together like you know each other. Not in that awkward way when you don't know someone. And Jayden introduced you as his friends, so yes. I'm making the assumption you know each other well. And like I said, getting this many new kids who know each other well in one day is strange."

Jayden could tell by the look on her face she was trying to figure it out. "That's because we're from a foster home," Mia said quickly thinking back to the conversation she'd had with her aid the previous day. The other rangers glanced looks at her.

"That's asks sense," Lorrie said nodding. Jayden felt himself relax. _Foster home,_ he thought. _Well we do all live together._ At that moment the bell rang. The rangers got up. Lauren and Antonio hugged and kissed good-bye before heading their separate ways.

"See you in gym," Kevin said.

"Right," Jayden said. He walked down the hall to his English class, Lorrie by his side. He was about to ask her if she was following him when he remembered she was in that class too. "I need my book," he said. He detoured through all the kids to his locker, Lorrie still keeping up with him.

"Your friends all seem really nice," Lorrie commented.

"Yeah, they're the greatest," Jayden said.

"I wish I could make friends like you," she continued as he shut his locker. "I could be so popular."

"Don't you have friends?" he asked.

"Not really," she shrugged. "The pink hair and red contacts tend to scare people off."

Jayden was happy to know red wasn't her natural eye color. "I can see how that would work," he said.

She shrugged. "If they're afraid of me because of the way I look, well then I don't need 'em."

Jayden smiled. "I like your confidence."

She smiled back. "And I like yours."

_What confidence?_ he thought as they entered the classroom. He went to his seat and mentally prepared himself for the day. He hoped the teacher wouldn't keep calling on him again. Lorrie sat down behind him. He glanced back and saw that she was doodling in her notebook. Now that he that about it, she didn't talk to people like all the other kids did. In fact she and Jayden were the only ones who weren't.

The bell rang and Jayden turned his attention to the front. The intercom buzzed. Everyone said the pledge, then had a moment of silence before sitting down again. "Good morning class," Mr. Jillsen said. "Today we are going to read our essays aloud to the class." There was a very audible groan from everyone. "Are there any volunteers?" Everyone seemed to be looking at everyone else. "I'll choose then. Hmmm...lets see... Jayden."

Jayden hit his face with with papers. As he stood up he felt his stomach behind to tie into knots. His hand started sweating and shaking. He stood in front of the class and cleared his throat. "The importance of taking a foreign language..."


	21. Problems and Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italic indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-One: Problems and Dreams

A/N: So here we are againI here's your next chapter! Please review! It would make me very happy!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Antonio was in Marine Bio wondering why his teacher was so insane. He had started out class by explaining to them, once again, why sharks were just lonely. "Personally," said the other boy at their group as their worksheets were passed out. "I don't blame the sharks."

"Why?" Antonio asked.

"Well if someone came into my home wearing nothing but a speedo, I think I would probably attack him too."

Antonio started laughing, then began working on his worksheet.

"He's delusional..." Lily was saying.

"Who Mr. Ander?"

"No, Andre."

"Ah."

"He insists on letting Brett get away with being a jerk."

"Why?"

"Who knows. I keep telling him to tell someone, but he won't listen to me."

"Maybe telling someone will make it worse," Antonio suggested rubbing his knee absentmindedly.

She shrugged. "Someone needs to stop him, and the two of them getting in a fight will do nothing but get them in trouble."

Emily was drawing a house with charcoal. She'd discovered that art was something different everyday. She glanced over at the quiet girl who was sketching swiftly. Emily wondered what she was drawing. She tilted her head and studied her own picture. She'd never been the best at drawing, but it was ok.

She jumped back as water suddenly spilled all over her paper. She stood up and looked at Ashley who was smirking. "Oops," she said. "Sorry."

Emily felt herself getting angry. She'd only known this girl for a day, but she really didn't like her. Ashley walked back to her table. Emily looked for the art teacher, but she was helping another student and hadn't seen anything. Emily looked sadly at her ruined project. She picked the paper up and threw it in the recycling bin. She grabbed a new paper and reached for a piece of charcoal. She looked around her table and couldn't find any of the pieces she'd been using.

Someone behind her laughed. She turned around and saw Ashley and her friends were drawing, with notably more pieces of charcoal then they'd started out with. She sighed. She turned back to her blank paper. From the corner of her eye she saw someone sit down. She looked over and saw the quiet girl sitting, albeit as far from Emily as she could, at the table. Her cup of charcoal pieces was between the two of them. Emily smiled, her spirits lifting a little.

She took a piece slowly. Quiet Girl glanced up, but then went back to her work. Emily took the piece and started drawing again. The two girls worked silently. After ten minutes Emily looked over at Quiet Girl's work. Her eyes widened. She had drawn a beautiful picture of a forest. _She's really talented,_ Emily thought.

Quiet Girl stayed focused on her drawing, never even looking at Emily.

"For the last time Hayley," Kyle said irritated, "I do not want to what about some stupid momentum thing the Mythbusters did."

"Why not?"

"Because first of all, we're supposed to be working. Second of all, Mythbusters isn't science. It's five people blowing stuff up."

She shrugged. "It works for me."

"Is it always like this?" Kevin asked Brooke.

She nodded, not looking up from the doodle in her notebook. "Yup. Always."

"What exactly is scientific about blowing stuff up?!" Kyle asked.

"Consider yourself lucky," Brooke said. "You haven't heard their argument over what the definition of science is."

"Science is the study of how the world works," Hayley said. "So logically..."

"I spoke to soon." Brooke got up and walked up to the teacher's desk. Kevin half listened to the conversation the other two members of the group were having. "Come on," Brooke said returning and nudging him.

"What?"

"Lest go. He gave me a pass for us to leave."

"And go where?"

"Anywhere. Come on, we're done our work and those two are going to be arguing until the bell rings."

"I didn't know," Kevin said.

"Listen," Kyle said. "Let me tell you why an explosion shouldn't, be considered scientific."

"On second thought I'm right behind you," Kevin said. He grabbed his bag and followed Brooke out of the classroom.

She sighed with relief. "Thank god. I swear I can't stand to listen to them argue anymore."

"Why do they do that all the time?" Kevin asked as they walked leisurely down the hall.

Brooke shrugged. "Who knows? They're both geniuses when it come to science. Mark my words years from now they'll be arguing in some Harvard engineering lab."

"Do you want to be a scientist?" Kevin asked.

She smiled. "How about no."

"The what do you what to do?"

"Teach gymnastics."

"Are you a gymnast?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I've been doing it my whole life. It's all I've ever wanted to do."

"Cool," Kevin said nodding.

"What about you, since we're on the subject. What's your future goals?"

_To save the world._ "To be in the Olympics," he answered.

She gave him a sly smile. "You don't say? What sport?"

"Swimming."

"Cool. Best of luck to you. Maybe I'll see you there."

"You trying for it too?"

She nodded. "I went to the qualifiers for Beijing and London, but no dice."

"You've tried twice?" he asked.

"Yeah. Last time I less than ten points away from making the team."

"That's both amazing and sucks at the same time."

"Tell me about it. I was so disappointed. But who knows," she shrugged. "Maybe in four years I'll get my chance again."

"I hope you do," Kevin said, thinking he wanted all her persistence to pay off.

"I hope you do too," she said as the bell rang. "Come on, lets go kill our arms in gym."


	22. Patty Cake, News, and Drama

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Two: Patty Cake, News, and Drama

A/N: Hello! So...um...sorry about the incredibly long wait. This seems like an excellent time to say that I will never EVER abandon a story. If I start it, then I'll finish it. I just got caught up writing on e of my other fics, which some of you are familiar with. So anyways, please read and review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden served the volleyball over the net to his partner. Kevin had to run to catch though. "Sorry," Jayden said.

Kevin smiled. "Interesting game, huh?"

"No. No it's not."

Kevin smiled. "At least someone's having fun," he commented nodding at Antonio and Andre. Jayden looked over and smiled. The two were serving the ball over the net, but far over each others heads. They didn't seem to care about where it went, or even if they were serving it right.

Jayden shook his head. He sighed and turned back to Kevin as the blue ranger served the ball. It hit the net and bounced onto the ground. Jayden laughed, while Kevin scowled. "Good try," Jayden said.

"This is something I'll never need to know," Kevin grumbled walking up to the net and grabbing the ball. Jayden glanced over at Antonio and Andre. Antonio was pulling Andre away from Brad who was in his face. Andre looked like he wanted to kill him. Kevin looked over too and shook his head. Antonio dragged Andre back over to their court.

"Dejarlo ir, amigo," Antonio said. (Let it go amigo.)

"Estúpido, fútbol, jerkface. Piensa que él es tan genial. Él es un idiota." (Stupid football jerkface. He thinks he's so cool. He's an idiot.)

"Lo sé. He delt con matones mucho tiempo antes. No deje que le llega a usted. No sería muy fantastico si se suspende." (I know. I've delt with bullies plenty of time before. Don't let him get to you. It wouldn't be very fantastico if you got suspended.)

"Tienes razón," Andre said serving the ball over the net. (You're right.) "Pero uno de estos días voy a demostrarle que él es meterse con." (But one of these days I'm going to show him who he's messing with.)

"Estoy seguro de wil," Antonio said smiling, serving the ball back. It flew over Andre's head and hit Brad. "Oops." This was the second time. Brad snarled at him. He stalked over and grabbed Antonio by the front of his shirt.

"You wanna go, Garcia?"

Antonio shook his head. "No. Not really."

"You sure? What're you scared?"

"Uh..." He could see Jayden and Kevin had both stopped playing and looked like they were watching him. Andre came over and stood by Antonio. "No. I just don't want to get in trouble."

"Sounds to me like you're scared."

"I'm really not," Antonio said truthfully, knowing he could probably take Brad down in a matter of seconds.

Brad let go of him and shoved him into Andre, then walked away. "Looks like he liked you," Andre commented.

"Yeah...sure..." Antonio said as the two of them turned back to their serving.

"Ok, who wants to read their story next?" Lauren looked around. No one raised their hands. "Ok then," Mrs. Ryan said scouting the class. "Lauren, why isn't you read your story?"

"Uh...ok," Lauren sad getting up. She walked to the front of the class. "My story is about a guy named...George. He had OCD." She cleared her throat. "George woke up at six am..." As she read her story Lauren was a little nervous, but it wasn't that bad. Her heart raced, but only a little. She kept her voice clam and steady.

In her mind, it was no different than staying clam in a battle when things turned to complete chaos. She took deep breaths and focused in the spear in front of her, but didn't hide behind it like a couple kids had done. She finished her story. Everyone started clapping.

"Well done Lauren," Mrs. Ryan said approvingly. "That's was very interesting. You may sit down now."

"Thank you," Lauren said. She returned to her desk. _It wasn't that bad,_ she thought. _Wonder what everyone complains about._

Mike glanced over at Roger who was working steadily on the assignment. "Class," the teacher said. "I have an important announcement. I have just gotten an e-mail confirmation that we will be having geust speakers from the police department for a special lecture on what it's working with forensics."

The whole class started talking excitedly about it. "Cool," Roger said. "We get to have a guests speaker. Know what that means?"

"No," Mike answered, shaking his head.

"No homework!"

The green ranger smiled. "Excellent."

Mia smiled as Kendra played party-cake with Jaxon. "I wins!" the little girl declared throwing her hands up when they finished.

Jaxon smiled. "Kendra, you can't win at party-cake."

"I still wins!" she declared with undetered spirit.

"Alright, fine," Jaxon relented. "You win."

"Yay!" she clapped her hands together. "Now Mia," she pointed to th pink ranger.

"Ok," Mia said. She put her hands up. "Patty-cake, party-cake, bakers man. Bake me a cake as fast as you can! Roll it, pat it, mark it with a 'b'! Put it in the oven for you and me!"

"Again!" Kendra shouted.

"Ok, again," Mia said. She sang the rhyme with the little girl, Kendra pronouncing a couple of words wrong.

"I win!"

"You can't always win," Mia said. "What if I want to win?"

Kendra shook her head stubbornly. "I win!"

"It's no use arguing," Jaxon said. "She's three. To her, she always wins."

"I win!"

"Ok. You win."

"Yay! Now Jaxon play!"


	23. New Activities and Confusion

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Three: New Activities and Confusion

A/N: Hello! I have returned! Schools out for the summer! Yay! So hopefully more updates! Double yay! So I have a request. I need ideas for things that will happen in their classes. Seriously. I'm drawing very large blanks on a lot of this. Please help me out with this! Thanks. As always, please read and review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Emily had mixed feelings when the gym teachers told them about their new activity. "...Project Adventure is an exciting way for you to build self-confidence and learn the importance if teamwork," Coach Brown was saying.

A boy in the middle of the group raised his hand. "What exactly is it?"

"Excellent question," Coach Bailey answered. He was a slightly overweight, bald man. "Project Adventure is climbing the rock wall..."

_This school has a rock wall?!_

"The Mohawk Walk, climbing inside, and other smaller activities."

"Now we advise you to listen very closely to instruction," Coach Brown said. "You don't have too, but it's highly advised."

"For instance," Coach Bailey continued for her. "If we say to put your harness by your belly button , and you do code your belly button is way down here," he put his hand just above his waist. "Wehn you come down and the harness tightens, and pulls, you will be screaming the whole way down. That goes for boys and girls." He didn't need to elaborate.

"Again," Coach Brown said, picking up the conversation. "Not forcing you to do it our way. Completely your choice."

"Another thing," Coach Bailey said with his booming voice. "I know there are some of you that are very coordinated and physically fit, and some of you who are not. This protection of class may be challenging. That's good we aim for it to be."

"That being said," Coach Brown continued. "If someone is afraid to be to the top of something, or doesn't have enough attentively ma me it, under no circumstances does this mean you are allowed to laugh at this person."

"If you're joking around with friends, that different," Coach Bailey said. "But teasing and bullying will not be tolerated in this, just like it's never treated in this class. If you want to make fun of someone because of their physical, or mental limitations, just be aware, you will be having a very long, one-sided talk with me after school."

"Now," Coach Brown said. "There are a few things you should know about what to wear in this unit..."

Jayden laughed as Kevin tried to guess what Tiara was was saying. "Fine," the blue ranger said in defeat. "I give up. What was it?"

The younger girl grinned vicariously. "You'll never guess."

"Obviously," Lauren said. "He tried for most of lunch."

"No. I mean 'You'll never guess' is what I was saying."

"Oh," Kevin said, feeling slightly dumb.

Jayden smiled. "What language was that in by the way?"

"Ukranian."

"Ah," Kevin said. "Did you and your dad live in Ukraine?"

Tiara nodded. "For like six months."

"I take it you guys moved around a lot," Lauren said.

Tiara nodded. "Yeah. We lived in each place for like a year at a time. Except for Japan. "We lived there for five years."

"Did you like living in Japan?" Jayden inquired.

Tiara nodded. "Yup. My dad's actually still there."

"Why are you here then?" Kevin asked. "I mean, why come back to America? Why not stay there?"

She bit her lip. "My dad thought I was looking touch with my American roots. He said I need to be where I was born. He wanted me to reconnect. You know?"

"Make same I guess," Lauren said. "So are you living with your mom?"

"No," Tiara said. "I'm living with th an old trusted friend of my dad's."

"What about you mom?" Kevin asked, frowning. "Is she in Japan with your Dad?"

"No," she said shaking her head. "She's in Paris with her boyfriend."

None of them knew what to say at this point. The conversation had taken an awkward turn. "Oh," Kevin said, breaking the momentary awkward silence.

"Yeah. My parents divorced when I was really young," Tiara said. "Me and my dad left the country not a month after it was finalized."

"Oh."

Tiara shrugged. "It is what it is. My mom didn't even wait for it to be finalized. She just...left."

Jayden and Lauren glanced at each other. "We're sorry Tiara," Lauren said, emphathizing with the young girl.

Tiara smiled. "Its ok. I've made peace with it. The past is the past."

Jayden nodded. He knew it was true, but he didn't miss the smallest hint of sadness in her eyes. He didn't know why, but he suddenly had the urge to hug Tiara and protect her. Suddenly he wanted to comfort her. He shook his head stubbornly. _ What am I saying? I barely know this girl._ He snapped out of his thoughts the bell rang. _Back to class,_ he thought dully. Truthfully, his class wasn't so bad though.

He sat next to Lorrie, and listening to her talk was always an experience. On his way out of the cafe he saw Bret shove Antonio and Andre into a wall. Jayden wove his way through people over to the two boys. "You guys ok?"

"Yeah," Andre muttered looking irritated. Jayden looked at Antonio who nodded. He was alright. "I gotta go," Andre said. He left the two rangers still looking pretty irritated.

Antonio muttered something to himself in Spanish. "What?" Jayden asked.

"Nothing," Antonio said shaking his head. "Its nothing. Come on, we don't want to be late."

"True," Jayden said as the two of them set off across the school grounds. He looked over and saw Bret and Tiara walking back to class together, hand in hand. He shook his head. He hadn't know Bret that long, but it was apparent that he was a complete jerk. Tiara on the other hand seemed to be a perfectly sweet girl, who never had anything bad to say about anyone. What she saw in him Jayden supposed he would never know. "Why Why does it matter?" He muttered to himself, low enough that Antonio couldn't hear. "Its none of my business. She can be with whoever she wants. It's her choice." And yet the idea still nagged the back of his mind when he walked through the door of his classroom.

A/N: if anyone's wondering about the a Project Adventure it's something I did in gym this year. It was a lot of fun and yes, my school has a rock wall.


	24. School Work and Kicking Butts and Ankles

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Four: School Work, and Kicking Butts and Ankles

A/N: Hello! Thanks for the reviews! I'm still taking suggestions for ideas on things that could happen in classes. Please read and review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mia smiled as a kid danced with the class skeleton. "Is he supposed to be that ?" she asked the person next to her.

The girl shrugged, not even looking up from her compact. "Who knows?" she said boredly.

Their teacher, Mr. G, he hadn't elaborated on what his full name was. "Mark, stop waltzing with Scooter. Amber, put your make-up away." Amber rolled her eyes and snapped her compact closed. Mr. G sighed and shook his head. "I can't turn my back on you kids for a second. Can I?"

"You think he would have figured that out, all these years he spent teaching," Amber muttered to herself.

"Did anyone even do the work I assigned?"

Mia looked around. She had actually started the work. One other girl in the back raised her hand. Am we rolled her eyes again. _If she does that enough, will her eyes roll out of her head? _"Figures," she muttered.

"Alright," Mr. G said. "Why don't you all start working now. And no talking." As soon as he finished though a quiet chatter broke out through the room. He shook his head in a 'why do I even bother' way.

Jayden was trying to concentrate on his work, but it was a little hard to do when the kids behind him kept talking. "Alex!" Mr. Dune snapped. "Stop talking. Move up to the front."

"But..."

"Now!"

Alex sighed and grabbed his bag. He sat in the empty seat next to Jayden, giving the teacher a 'happy now?' look. Jayden went back to his paper. He felt something nudge him. He looked around, but everyone was still working. He decided to drop it and continued his assignment. A minute later he looked around as something hit his ankle again. He felt it again and realized it was Alex kicking him.

"Can you stop?" Jayden asked.

"Jayden, no talking," Mr. Dune said.

"Sorry," Jayden said. He went back to his work, but Alex kept kicking him. "Stop!" he hissed.

"What're you gonna do about it? Rat on me? Go ahead."

Jayden gritted his teeth. He knew couldn't tell, or Alex would never leave him alone. On the other hand he knew if he fought back he would get in trouble. And any punishment the school gave him would pale in comparison to what Ji would do if he found out Jayden had been fighting. The red ranger decided to ignore Alex and turned back to his work.

The other boy smirked. "Thought so."

Jayden gripped his pencil as Alex kicked him again, harder this time.

Kevin smiled. _It can't be that hard. _He slipped the note back to Brooke. It returned a second later.

_Would you like to support you entire weight on your hands, then do flips between two bars?_

_How about swimming for hours at a time. It takes of endurance and muscle._

_Poor baby. Do something pretty much every person on the planet knows how to do must be terribly hard._

_Right. And doing a bunch of flips and cartwheels is harder?_

_Harder than something that's basically running through water._

_I don't think that's a good comparison._

_I think it's perfectly good._

_Then gymnastics is nothing but glorified cheerleading._

_Hey! Take it back!_

_No!_

_Jerk!_

_ Bigger jerk!_

_:p_

"Ready to lose?" Tiara asked.

"As if," Antonio answered. "My car will totally cream yours."

"This coming from the guy who could barley put it together yesterday."

"Hey, at least it works."

"But not good enough."

Antonio grinned. Their class was racing their solar powered cars. So far the only two left were Antonio's and Tiara's. He glanced around. They were on the isolated road in front of the school gates. It was just now hitting him how truly isolated it was. They lonely stretch of road road that led to the school was deserted. Trees surrounded the wall encircling Ute grounds and stretch into oblivion in back.

"Get ready!" the teacher said.

Antonio put his car on the starting line. Their track was a stretch of about thirty feet that was lined by students who had lost earlier races. Tiara put her car next to his and the two of them told back a few feet from the line. He tested the throttle briefly, causing the engine to rev.

"On your make. Get set. Go!"

Antonio's car raced from the start line. Tiara's car raced along next to it. Kids on both sides of the spectrum cheered them on. Some people knew Tiara was smart and her car would win. Others thought the knew kid who appeared to be incredibly gifted with technology, had a good shot. Antonio whooped with pride when his car crossed the finish line. The people who had been on his side cheered, as did some who had switched loyalties.

Tiara smiled. "Looks like you won fair and square."

"Ah, but you put up an incredible fight."

She smiled. "Never go down without a fight'"

"True," An to up said. He grabbed his car as people started walking back through the gate. He stopped and looked around. It felt like someone was watching him. He narrowed his eyes when he saw Deker hidden in the trees. He held the half-nighlock's gaze for a minute.

"Antonio!" Tiara called. "Coming or what?"

"Yeah. I'm coming!" Antonio said. He turned away and flowed the kids back, but he could still feel Deker's gaze watching him, even as the gates closed and they entered the building.


	25. Maths and Sweet Revenge

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Five: Maths and Sweet Revenge

A/N:Hello! I have returned with an update. Please read and review! Pretty please!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

"How do you know so much about math?" Lauren asked Antonio.

The gold ranger shrugged. "It has something to do with fishing."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Sure it does."

"It really does."

"How?"

"Well, I can measure most things just by looking because fish have to be a certain size to sell them. I can do decimal problems in my head from dealing with money. I'm good with fractions thanks to my recipes..."

"You amaze me."

He smiled. "I am amazing."

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Ok brainiac, how do you explain you understanding of advanced math?"

"Same way you and Jayden are good advanced sword work. Master the simple stuff and the harder study comes that much easier."

"You have an answer for everything, don't you?"

"Yes."

Lauren laughed. "You are the smartest fisherman I've ever known."

"And you are the smartest girlfriend I've ever had."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Just ignore the fact your the only girlfriend I've ever had- ow!"

Lauren punched his arm. "Just stop talking."

He grinned at her and gave her a kick kiss on the cheek.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Come on Jayden," Kevin said. "Its simple."

"No, it's really not," Jayden countered.

"Sure it is. Just pit in this number, then hit this button, and hit equals."

Jayden did what Kevin told him. "I got the wrong answer again!"

"Here. Push this button. Good. Now the numbers..."

Jayden punched in the numbers. "Finally!"

"Good job. Now do the next one."

Jayden groaned. "Why is this so hard?"

"Its not hard."

"Yes it is. And frustrating. I'm used to things being easier than this."

"Jayden. That's because you're a master samurai. You've been a samurai since you were a little kid."

"And?"

"And I've been doing math daily since I was a little kid. How much time did you spend doing school work growing up?"

"Three hours."

"And hoe many days a week?"

"Four or five."

"See. and so you learn about math this in-depth?"

"No. I learned enough to survive if I was eve lost in another city or something."

"See? This stuff is more in-depth. I'm sure you can do this too. Just keep trying."

Jayden smiled. "I hope so."

"Don't worry. I'll be here to help you."

"I hope so."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mia wanted to kick Bret. Or punch him. That would work too.

"So, then I kicked him again," one of the boys was saying.

"What a wimp," another agreed.

"Alex, Shain, it certainly doesn't sound like you're working."

"That would be because we're not," Shain said.

"Well I would suggest that you change that. Before I give you detention."

"I already have detention," Shain said.

"Then I can add to the list."

Shain muttered something, but didn't say anything else.

"Maybe I'll give the retard a lesson tomorrow," Alex said.

_That's it! _Mia decided. She needed to stand up for her friend. She smiled, part of her happy the teacher had assigned her a permanent seat near the disruptive boys. She pulled a pencil out and snapped it in half. Then, making sure no one was looking, she grabbed a regular pencil and got up to sharpen it.

On her way back to her seat she jabbed it into Alex's back.

"Ah!" he shouted jumping up. He looked around wildly and saw Mia, who stopped and pretended to look concerned. "You!" He grabbed her wrists.

"Hey! Let me go!"

"Shain! What is the meaning of this?!" Mr. Mastraccio demanded. "Let go of her!"

"She just jammed a pencil in my back!"

"I did not!" Mia exclaimed.

He glared at her and squeezed her wrists.

_Perfect!_ "Ow!" Mia yelled. "He's hurting me!"

"Alex! Release her and report to the office!"

"But-"

"Now! Or I'll call Officer Gordon down here."

Alex sighed. If it was one person he was afraid off, it was the school's police officer. He let go of Mia and grabbed his stuff. He gave her one more look before leaving the classroom. Mia sat down in her seat.

"Are you ok?" Mr. Mastraccio asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine."

_He deserved that._


	26. End of the Day Battle

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Six: End of the Day Battle

A/N: hey! Thanks for all the reviews! They make me so happy! So please review this chapter too! Thanks!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mike laughed as Roger drew a cartoon character.

"Which one is that?"

"Timmy's dog from the Fairly Odd Parents. Haven't you been watching it?"

"No. I take it you have though."

"Ok, forget cartoons. Have you seen the latest episodes of Criminal Minds?"

"No," Mike said.

"CSI?"

"No."

"Numb3rs?"

"No."

"Do you never watch tv?"

"We don't have a tv."

"What?! How do you not have a tv?"

"Our foster dad is...old fashioned."

"And yet you have video games."

"Handehelds. And I brought them with me."

"How long have you been there?"

"Over a year."

"Nice."

-Samurai Ranger High-

So far Earth Science was Emily's favorite class of the day. As a part of the natural resources unit they were watching the Lorax.

"I am the Lorax I speak for the trees," she quoted after the movie was over.

"What if the trees don't want you as their representative?" Ethan challenged.

"The trees don't talk, so they don't get a choice."

"Harsh. Want my advice, don't go into politics."

"And why would that be?"

"First, you're to nice to get messed up in politics. Second of all, you speak for the trees. No cares about the trees."

"That's not true. Lots of people care about the trees."

"True, but not enough. More people need to start caring about the environment."

"Think so?"

"Oh yeah. When I graduate I'm going to be an environmentalist. I'm gonna make sure that someone protects the Earth."

"You seem really passionate about this."

"Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, nothing's going to get better. It not."

"And you really seem to care a lot."

"I really do."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Now," Kevin's history teacher was saying. "Ephors were people in Sparta who-"

"What do you call the mom of an ephor?" a girl asked raising her hand.

"What?"

"Its a legitimate question. What is the mom of an ephor called?"

"I don't know, a mother ephor? Now, moving on-"

The entire class burst out laughing. Even Kevin stopped listening and just laughed.

"Ok, ok, what's so funny?"

This made everyone laugh harder. Kevin felt bad for the confused looking teacher.

He stood there for a moment, think about what had just happened. Realization dawned on his face an d he started laughing. "Ok, ok I have to admit. That was funny. You got me. Very clever. Now let's get back to business."

Kevin smiled at what had just happened. It seems like something Mike would do, or possibly Antonio.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden looked at the clock again. _Still ten minutes left? Why is it ten minutes feels like five during training, but it feels like thirty here?_

"Ok, class," Mrs. Kane said. "This next project will take you more than one day to complete. Hint, hint, hint. For your assignment, your going to write a non-fiction story."

"Aren't we supposed to write fiction stories?" someone asked.

"Yes, but the school board has informed me that they want me to also cover non-fiction, and lengthier pieces of writing, so I'm going to combine them into one, so we can go back to writing fiction."

"You don't like this do you?" a boy asked amused.

"No I don't, but I don't have a choice, so as a new assignment that we will work on over the ext few weeks, you're going to write an autobiography."

There was a mixed reaction. Some kids looked disgruntled at the thought of the work load, while others looked excited to write about their lives, and Jayden was just plain terrified.

"Seriously?" someone asked.

"Yes. Tonight I want you to start thinking over the things on this lost and write down ideas for each main point." Mrs. Kane started passing out papers. Jayden just shoved his in his bag.

The bell rang and he made a mad dash out of the room.

"Supid assignment," he muttered. He found Lauren and Antonio already waiting at the gate.

"Ahola amigo," Antonio said. "How'd it go?"

"Tell you later," Jayden muttered.

Kevin and Mia walks up.

"Everyone have a good day?" Mia asked.

"Some what," Antonio said, thinking of all the homework they'd gotten for math.

Mike ran up with Emily.

"Guess what were doing in gym class!" the green ranger exclaimed.

At that moment moogers appears out of gaps.

"That'll have to wait," Jayden said.

"We can't morph here!" Lauren said.

"Woods," Kevin suggested.

"Excellent idea. Let's go!"

They ran into the woods where no one would see them.

"SAMURAIZERS, GO, GO, SAMURAI!"

"SAMURAI MORPHER, GOLD POWER!"

They ran out to the monsters. Jayden saw people running around trying to get to safety. "Go, get out of here!" he said. Students started running back into the school yard. He swung his sword, defeating more moogers.

Antonio saw Andre, and Lily on the ground, cowering. He ran over and defeated the moogers. "Run!" he told them. They didn't waste any time getting to their feet and running.

Emily and Mike fought back-to-back. Emily stabbed her sword through another mooger. She heard someone scream. She turned and saw Quiet Girl on the ground with mongers advancing on her. Emily ran over and destroyed them. She helped Quiet Girl to her feet and helped her get to the safety of the yard.

Lauren, Kevin, and Mia guarded the entrance, trying to keep people safe. Lauren saw Tiara backing up towards the woods as moogers came at her.

"Stay here and keep the moogers out!" she told Kevin and Mia.

She ran to Tiara's aid, and destroyed the moogers. Tiara made a mad dash for the yard. Lauren caught a glimpse of Deker disappearing into the woods. More moogers attacked her and she averted her attention back to the fight.

Kevin stepped aside as Brooke ran into the school yard. He destroyed a mooger that tried to get past him. He saw the others defeating the last few. Lauren gave them a nod and they ran into the woods. Lauren and Jayden looked back. Some kids had gathered on the edge of the yard. Tiara waved to the two red rangers.

Jayden smiled and the two of them followed their friends. Once they were out of sight they de-morphed.

"Ok," Mike said. "There is definitely something there."

"Or someone," Emily argued as they grabbed their bags and headed for the Shiba House.

"If it so someone, then what do they have that's so important?" Kevin asked looking at Jayden and Lauren.

The Shiba siblings shrugged. "Who knows?" Jayden said. "But we need to figure it out before someone gets hurt."

"I have an idea," Lauren said. "Everyone will probably be talking about the attack tomorrow. Try to casually get people talking about it. Maybe we'll get lucky and someone will say something important."

"I hope so, because the nighlocks might keep attacking the school until they get what they want," Antonio said, his muscles tensing as he saw the terrified looks on the students' faces in his mind.

Lauren gave his hand a squeeze. "We'll figure this out," she assured him.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Did it work?" Serrator asked.

Deker shook his head. "No." The nighlock growled in frustration. "Maybe we're wrong ," Deker said.

"What?" Serrator asked dangerously.

"What if our information is wrong?" Deker continued unwavered.

"It is not!" Serrator hissed. "My source-"

"Is a traitor who betrayed the samurai. He could have been lying."

"He isn't. The samurai have started appearing at the school, as you've told me. They know."

Deker didn't feel like pointing out that the samurai were probably only there because they spotted him spying. "How can you be so sure?"

"Becasue my new plan depends on what we were told being true. Trust me. This will work."

"I suggest a new plan then."

"Hmm... if moogers didn't work, we'll need to rethink our strategy."


	27. Talk of the School

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Talk of the School

A/N: ello! Thanks for all the reviews! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

True enough Lauren's prediction the attack was the talk of the school. The rangers sat in their usual spot on th front steps when they got to school.

"Hey Jayden. Jayden's friends," Lorrie said walking up. She sat on the steps with them.

"What's up?"

"Well everyone seems to be talking about the attack yesterday," Jayden said.

"I know," she replied. "It was pretty scary."

"Anyone have an idea why?"

"Nope. But the power rangers showed up."

"We saw them," Antonio said.

"It was so awesome!"

"The attack?" Jayden asked.

"No, the rangers."

"Think so?"

She nodded. "The guy red ranger was so brave."

Jayden smiled. "Think so?"

She nodded. "Oh yeah."

Kevin kicked Jayden. "Stop blushing," he whispered to the red ranger whose face was starting to get redder than his suit. "You'll give us away."

"I'm not blushing," Jayden replied while Lauren talked to Lorrie.

"Are too. Stop it."

The bell rang and the rangers dispersed from their spot. Lorrie walked next to him a a they headed for class.

"You're sister's really nice," she said.

"Think so?"

"Oh yeah."

"If you say so."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Throughout the day Jayden kept and ear out for anyone who might now some connection to the samurai's world.

In gym class Andre kept asking them if they'd seen the rangers.

"Only when they were morphed," Kevin said.

"Yeah, the incredibly talented gold ranger told us to go- ow!" he said when Jayden slapped him in the back of the head.

"The gold ranger's ok," Andre said. "But man that blue ranger kicks butt."

"Really?" Kevin asked intrigued.

"Oh yeah. He's the type of guy you can tell spends a lot of time practicing his moves. Very impressive."

Kevin tried not to beam at Andre's compliment.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Emily heard the mean girls behind her talking, about her once again, but they didn't even know it.

"Those rangers were so amazing," one of them said.

"Fantastic," said another.

Emily couldn't help but smile. They had no idea one of those amazing rangers was sitting right in front of them. Ashley got up and snatched Emily's cup of colored pencils. "Hey! Those are mine."

"Too bad. I want them."

"What are you, like three?"

"Shut up, slur," she said walking away.

"Not a very good come back," Emily muttered. She heard a noise next to her and found that Quiet Girl was once more sitting next to her; her own cup of colored pencils between them. Emily smiled. She looked at her picture and was surprised. Quiet Girl's picture was of Emily. Or rather...morphed Emily.

She'd drawn the yellow samurai ranger on a lighter pink background, and a shaded black symbol. Emily smiled. Apparently Queit Girl like the yellow ranger.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"-and then they beat the monsters!" Roger exclaimed.

"Dude, I was there," Mike said.

"I was hidning in the woods."

"Ah. Well they were amazing. Especially the green ranger."

"He was ok, nut the yellow ranger looked hot!"

"You couldn't even see her face!"

"Yeah, but her moves were awesome!"

"What about the pink ranger, or the girl red ranger?"

"They were ok. But that yellow ranger. Man!"

"I get it," Mike said clenching his teeth.

"I would defiantly go out with her."

"A: you don't know her. B: I hear he's taken."

"By who?"

"The green ranger."

"As man. I can take him."

"Really?" Mike asked intrigued.

"Totally. I could kick his ass from here to the next county."

_I'll remember that._

-Samurai Ranger High-

"So what'd you guys think of the rangers?" Tiara asked at lunch.

"Pretty cool," Lauren said.

"I loved their technique. It's easy to tell the two red rangers are really good. They'd qualify for like...shotgun level."

Kevin almost choked on his drink. "Excuse me?"

"Come on. They're way to advanced to be regular samurai."

Jayden and Lauren stared at her. "How do you know for sure they're samurai?"

"Their fighting style. They're obviously using kendo."

"How...How do you know this?" Lauren asked.

"I studied kendo. For most of the time I was in Japan."

"Sweet," Kevin said, warming up to Tiara more was the conversation continued.

"I would love the opportunity to spar one of the red rangers. Or both."

"You'd probably lose," Lauren said playfully.

"Probably."

-Samurai Ranger High-

_The gold ranger was so great!_ Kevin rolled his eyes_._

_No he's not, _he wrote and passed the paper back to Brooke.

_Was too!_

_The blue ranger was better!_

_He was ok_

_Just ok?_

_Sounds like someone has a crush on the blue ranger_

_Shut up!_

_Make me!_

_That could be arranged!_

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Which ranger do you think is the best?" Ethan asked.

"The yellow one," Emily said.

"She was pretty good, but that green ranger had some sick moves. It was very heroic though that the yellow ranger saved that girl."

"Think so?"

"Know so. It was pretty great. Just wish I could tell her amazing I thought it was."

"I'm sure she'd appreciate it."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"They were samurai!" a boy exclaimed. "Like...Japanese samurai."

"Well there isn't exactly Chinese versions of samurai," Lauren pointed out.

"Wonder if they speak Japanese?"

"They probably do," a girl said.

"I dunno. They live in America. Not Japan."

"But I bet they study it," another boy said.

"Do they know how to use nunchucks?!"

"Those are ninja weapons idiot," someone said.

"Yeah. The samurai's sworn enemy. The warriors of the shadows."

Lauren tried not laugh so hard, she had to bite her lip.

-Samurai Ranger High-

The irony of the situation didn't get past Mia.

"That red ranger guy was amazing," Shain said.

"So was that gold ranger," Brett said. "He was cool. I'd hang with him."

"Definitely."

_Funny, _Mao thought. _I wonder what they would say of they knew the dumb, lame, and wimpy rangers they constantly feel the need to pick on are the same ones they're praising._

The irony of the situation was very pleasing.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden resisted the urge to slap someone.

"The red rangers are the leaders," a girl said.

"You can't have two leaders," a boy argued.

"And you shouldn't have two rangers of the same color," another boy put in.

"How does something like that even happen?" another girl asked.

_Special circumstances, _Jayden thought to himself.

"They should get rid of one," the first boy suggested.

"I vote the guy," a girl said.

"Me too. He's weaker then the girl. She's better by far."

_I'd like to see you pick up a sword._

He took a deep breath. The day would end soon. Tue bell rang on cue and he bolted from the room. Happy the day of gossip was finally over.


	28. Advice and Names

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Advice and Names

A/N: Greetings earthlings! I come in peace with another chapter! Please, please, please, please, please, please, please, please, review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden brushed his brown hair out of his face. He smiled. It was still trying to cover his eyes.

"Hey, Amiga, we have to go!" Antonio said through the door.

Jayden sighed and rolled his eyes. "Alright, alright, chill," he said opening the door. He went to his room and grabbed his bag. It had been one week since they started school. Most people had accepted them as everyday occurrences and stopped staring. Which made Jayden relieved. He joined his friends in the living room and they left.

"What's with the face?" Antonio asked Jadyen, noticing his friend's look as they walked.

"Nothing-"

"Don't even try that. I know it's something, so fess up."

Jayden sighed. "You are small, annoying person. You know that?"

Antonio smirked. "I've been told. So, you gonna tell what's with the face?"

Jayden sighed. "It's this kid in my chemistry class. Well, it's a group of them, but the ring leader is the worst."

"Usually the case," Antonio said nodding. "What's he doing?"

"A bunch of stuff. They're always laughing at me, and throwing paper balls at me. And if I get a question wrong, they call me retard and stuff."

"Why don't you tell the teacher?" Lauren asked.

"Becasue then I'd be a snitch and they'd think I can't fight for myself."

"But they need to stop. Have you asked them to leave you alone?"

"Multiple times. But every time I do the ring leader, who the teacher has sitting next to me by the way, says I have to make them."

"Well if they're asking for it..."

Antonio smirked. "Believe me, showing them you can kick their asses from here to the moon is not going to help. I've delt with people like them before."

"People like them?" Jayden asked not understanding.

Antonio sighed. "In my experience there are two kinds of bullies. There are the kind where if you stand up for yourself they'll back off. Then there's the ones who never back off."

"Oh that's a nice thought," Jayden said sarcastically.

Antonio shrugged. "It's the truth. If you tell, they'll make your life miserable. If you don't fight back, they think you're weak and do whatever they want to you. If you do fight back, they'll try to prove they're tougher than you by making you feel weaker."

"Sounds like a lose-lose situation," Lauren said.

"That's exactly what it is," Antonio said.

"So what do I do then?"

"When they pick on you ignore them. Don't engage. That'll just give them more fuel. If they try to fight you, just defend yourself and walk away."

"So just pretend they're not there."

"And hope they move on to tormenting someone else."

Jayden nodded. "Sounds like a plan."

"Just don't lose your cool."

"I'll remember that." They arrived at the gates to the school and began making they're way to the front.

Brooke came running up to them and grabbed Kevin's hand. "Come on. We have a pop quiz in physics today. We need to study!" She pulled him away from his friends.

Kevin looked back and waved before following her.

A second later Roger came up to the group. "Hey Mike, c'mon. Let's go hang over here."

"See you guys," Mike said following his friend.

Mia saw Seth walking around one of the buildings. He stopped and noticed her, waving her over. "Bye," she said running up to him.

Jayden smiled and shook his head. Emily looked over and saw Quiet Girl sitting at a table by herself. She had a sudden idea. "Bye," she said leaving the shrinking group.

"Man. They left awfully-" Lauren stopped as Antonio led her off to where they could see Andre and Tiara were sitting and talking.

Jayden smiled and shook his head. "And then there was one."

"Make that two," Lorrie said walking up to him.

Jayden smiled. "Hey Lor."

"Hey Jay," she said. "What's up?"

"Just getting ditched by my friends."

She laughed. "Well it looks like they're fitting in alright."

Jayden nodded. "Yeah looks like it."

"Did you study for our test in Lang and Comp today?"

"I did. You?"

"Yeah but I'll probably fail."

"That's no way to think."

"It's true though. This class is so hard. I just can't get the hang of it."

"Well...I mean...I could help you study. If...if you want."

Lorrie smiled. "That would be wonderful."

"Come on," he said leading her to the front steps of the main building.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"How do you know about the quiz? Isn't it supposed to be a surprise?" Kevin asked Brooke as she led him into a building.

"I don't know realy," she admitted. "I just wanted to get you away from your foster siblings."

Kevin smiled and laughed. "Ok, well mission accomplished. What now?"

"I want to show you something." She led him into the gym. She opened the door to the exercise room. Off in the corner was a bunch of gymnastics stuff. "Come over here," she said leading him to it.

They walked through the sea of equipment. Brooke dropped his hand and went to the two rings suspended by ropes. She grabbed them and pulled herself up, then started to do her routine. She flipped herself up so her feet were straight up in the air, then swung down, so they were straight horizontal from her body.

Kevin watched her do trick after trick in amazement. _She's amazing._ Brooke finished by doing a back flip off them and landing with her feet perfectly one slightly in front of the other, hands poised in the air.

"That was...Just wow," Kevin said. "I've never seen gymnastics that amazing."

"Thanks. I'll show you more. I come in here every morning to practice." She walked over to the balance beam and did a hand handstand on it.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Emily approached the Quiet Girl , trying not to scare her. "Hi," she said cheerfully, sitting at the small, circular table next to her. "Oh no, don't leave," Emily said when she tried to get up. She sat down again. "Please stay. I wanted to thank you for always helping me out. I realized I never got your name."

She didn't say anything for a minute. Then, so quiet you might not hear it, she said, "Belle."

"What?" Emily asked, not quite hearing her.

"M...my n...name...is...B...Belle," she said a little louder. "It...it's...sh...short...f...for...I..Isabelle."

"Oh. That's a nice name. My name is Emily." She stuck out her hand.

Belle looked at her uncertainly, then smiled and shook it. "Ni...nice...t...to...m...m...meet...You."

"It's nice to fianlly meet you too."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Close," Jayden said. "The answer is a pronoun."

Lorrie made a face. "I hate this language. I'm just gonna learn Spanish and move to Mexico."

Jayden laughed. "I don't really know how to respond."

"Then don't," she said resting her hand on his.

Jayden felt his heartbeat pick up a little. He looked at her red eyes. "Lorrie-" He stoped as the bell rang. "It's time for class," he said quickly.

"Right," Lorrie sais grabbing her stuff. "Let's go fail a test."

Jayden smiled and followed her to their classroom, wondering why he felt slightly disappointed.


	29. Plans For the Future

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Plans For the Future

A/N: Sup guys? Thanks for all the reviews! Please remember: reviews = free morpher day. (Absolute happiness). :-3

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Mike sat in math class resisting the urge to throw something at his teacher. The man really rubbed him the wrong way.

"Who would like to solve this problem?" the teacher asked, sounding bored. "Mike?"

"What?"

"Would you like to come up here and solve the problem?"

"No. Not really."

"Just get up here and solve the problem."

"I think math should grow up and solve its own problems."

The teacher glared as the class started laughing. It had pretty much been a war between Mike and his teacher the last week, a war Mike was determined to win. Before anyone could say something though, the intercom went off.

"All juniors please report to the auditorium. All juniors please report to the auditorium. Thank you."

"Go," the teacher said sighing. Mike grabbed his bag as he and about ten other kids left the room. He was disappointed to see Roger wasn't one of them. He followed the kids to the auditorium. As he walked he saw Antonio come out of his classroom. "Hey man."

"Ahola."

"You're a junior?"

"Were the same age."

"Right."

"Hey guys," Jayden said joining them.

"Ok now this doesn't make any sense," Mike said as they walked. "You're a year older than us."

"Shhh!" Jayden said glancing around. "Me and Lauren can't exactly be in the same grade, now can we? She's a year older than me," he whispered.

"That makes sense."

"So as far as anyone's concerned I'm the same age as you, Antonio, and Emily."

"Got it," Mike said. "All though it would've been nice to know sooner."

"Maybe if you used common sense-"

"Guys," Antonio said interrupting. "I don't think continuing to talk about it is cohesive for keeping it a secret."

Jayden nodded in agreement and Mike decided to drop it. They went into the auditorium and sat down. There were a small group of adults on the stage. "Students please sit down in an orderly fashion."

Jayden felt someone flick him in the back of the head. He turned around and saw Alex sitting behind him. Alex gave him a smirk. Jayden gripped his arm rest and turned back around. Antonio noticed the aggregated look on his friend's face and glanced around. He saw Alex flick Jayden in the head again. Antonio narrowed his eyes. No matter what he'd told Jayden about staying cool, no one messed with his friends and got away with it.

"There's Emily," Mike said, pointing to a lost looking yellow ranger. "I'll go get her so she can sit with us." He got up and left to get Emily.

Alex flicked Jayden again. Antonio could see his jaw tightening. He leaned over and whispered something to Antonio. The gold ranger smiled and switched seats with Jayden. Alex simply changed seats as well, and started kicking the back of Jayden's seat. Antonio shrugged in a 'What're you gonna do?' gesture.

Mike returned with Emily and another girl. "Hey guys," Emily said. "This is Belle."

"Hi Belle," Jayden said smiling friendly. Emily sat in the isle seat with Belle next to her, Jayden next to Belle, Antonio next to Jayden, and Mike next to Antonio. The other girl blushed a stuttered something inaudible.

Emily smiled. "Don't worry. Jayden is nice."

Jayden smiled at her, and Emily winked in return. He smiled disappeared though as Alex leaned forward and hissed in his ear, "She your girlfriend, Shiba? She looks like a-"

"Can we have your attention please?" A balding man with thin brown hair asked, speaking through the microphone. The idle chit chat died down. "Thank you. Now, I'm sure you're all eager to get back to class-" Jayden was pretty sure he could see all students rolling their eyes. "so I'll get right to it.

"We have a special guest here today to talk to you all about applying for college."

Antonio rolled his eyes. "I was't interested in college last time, what makes you think I give a damn this time," he muttered with a hint of bitterness in his voice.

"So please give a welcoming round of applause to Mr. Dylan."

There was a scattered applause as a man in a tweed jacket and grey slacks stepped forward. Mike snorted at his mustache. Antonio elbowed him. "What? It's funny!"

"So I know you're all very excited looking at different schools and all that-"

"You can feel the excitement," Emily said. Belle giggled.

"Your principal has asked me to meet with each of you individually to talk about your futures, college, and opportunities at your disposal."

"Lucky us," Jayden muttered.

"So throughout the day I'll be calling you down individually to discuss all of these amazing and interesting things."

"Sugar coat it a little more, why don't ya?" Antonio asked rolling his eyes.

"So I look forward to seeing all of you personally."

Jayden sighed. "My conversation with him is going to be incredibly short and one-sided."

"Tell me about it," Antonio said.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mike groaned when he was called down to the guidance office during his third period class. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," the man from the assembly said. "Ah, Mike. Nice to meet you," he shook the green ranger's hand. "Please sit down." Mike sat in a char so they were fa ing each other. The man crossed one leg on top of the other. "My name is Mr. Dylan."

"Nice to meet you," Mike said out of politeness.

"So tell me Mike, what's your plans for the future?"

Mike shrugged. "Dunno. Haven't really thought about it."

"Well that's why I'm here. Now let's see here..." He pulled out a file. Mike clenched his fists, wondering what was in it. Typically his school files never had anything good in them. "You're in a foster home after your parents died in a car accident two years ago. My condolences. Have your foster parents ever talked about the future with you?"

_You mean besides reminding me there is none if I don't stop messing around? _"No. Not really. There's only one adult and its a group home, so one on one time can be hard to come by."

"Sorry to hear that," Mr. Dylan said mechanically. "So what're your interests?"

"Video games, martial arts, my girlfriend."

"Have you ever thought about what job you'd like?"

"No."

"How about-"

"Let me save you some time," Mike said holding his hand up. "I don't plan. At all. My real plan for the future is to go with my gut and see what happens. I'm not a planner, and I'm not good at working out details."

Mr. Dylan thought this over for a minute. He nodded. "Fair enough."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Antonio sighed before knocking on the door.

"Come in," the man said. The gold ranger walked in reluctantly. "Ah, Antonio. Nice to meet you. I'm Mr. Dylan."

"Nice to meet you," Antonio said.

"Please have a seat," he said indicating the seat across from him. Antonio sat down. "So, Antonio. Have you ever thought about your future? An goals, or dreams you want to accomplish?"

"I want to be a fisherman."

"A fisherman?"

"Yes. Is that a problem?"

"No. It's just..." He pulled out a file. "You're file is very interesting. It says here you were placed in the foster system at the age of 7 after your father-"

"I'm well aware of why and when I was put in the system," Antonio interrupted. "Can we move on?"

"Of course," Mr. Dylan said. "My point is, I know you don't have ideal circumstances."

"Ideal circumstances?"

"Mostly growing up in the system, not having a solid foundation for support, emotional or financial. I know going to college might seem like a daunting task, but it would defiantly be worth it."

"My being a foster kid has nothing to do with my choosing to be a fisherman."

"Then why did you choose it?"

"Well... I worked with my dad at his fish stand from a young age, and he sort of inspired me to become a fisherman."

"Interesting that even after he-"

"I said he inspired me," Antonio said quickly cutting him off. "That's it. I have fished my entire life and I love it. Am I skilled in other areas? Yes, but I have a passion for fishing. It's my life. And it's what I want to do. I just want to fish."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Ah, welcome Emily," Mr. Dylan said shaking her hand. "I'm very glad to meet you."

"You too," she said sweetly.

"Please, sit down."

"Thank you."

"My name is Mr. Dylan by the way. So Emily, what do you want to do after school?"

"I don't really know. I have a...personal matter that is sort of...taking up most of my time."

"I see, and what would this personal matter be?"

"It's personal," she replied, putting emphasis on the word. "I'm not comfortable sharing."

"Of course, my apologies. So, you don't have any plans at all? Any interest you want to pursue?"

"Well as I said before, this personal matter is taking up most of my energy and time. I don't really know What I want to do. My plan has always been to cross that bridge when I get there."

Mr. Dylan nodded. "You're a lot like your foster brother, Mike. He said something very similar."

"Really?"

"Oh yes. I'm sure if you two stick by each other you can discover where your bridges may take you together, and find something that interests you."

"Thank you," Emily said.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden groaned inwardly before knocking on the door.

"Come in." He opened the door and walked in. "Hello Jayden. My name is Mr. Dylan," Mr. Dylan said shaking his hand. "Please have a seat." Jayden sat down. "So, Jayden. What're your plans for the future?"

Jayden shrugged. "I don't really know. I've got a lot going on right now, so haven't had a lot of time to consider it."

"According to your student file you've shown some very high marks in world politics. Here consider becoming a politician?"

Jayden shook his head. "No."

"Has your foster dad ever talked to you about the future?"

"Yes. He spent most of my life preparing me for right now."

"You mean becoming a well developed young man."

"Sure," Jayden said. "That's exactly what I mean."

"Has he ever expressed anything he would like to see you do?"

"Other than do what I'm doing right now, no."

"Well do you have any dreams?"

"To save the world."

"Well that's a start. How would you like to do that? Joining the armed forces-"

"Yes," Jayden said quickly. "I mean. That sounds like a good way to accomplish my goal."

"Well I don't know if you can save the world, but you can certainly help protect it."

"My foster dad did mention he thought protecting people would be a good move for me."

"Well I think we've made a real accomplishment here. Let me give you some information you might find useful-"

-Samurai Ranger High-

Ten minutes later Jayden was walking back to class. On his way he dumped the papers he'd been given in the trash. He had no intentions of enlisting in anything. He'd just wanted to make up a fake goal to get out of there without arousing a lot of suspicion.

"After this war is over," Jayden muttered. "I have no intentions of signing up for another."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"How was your day?" Lauren asked Antonio as they walked to the gate after the final bell.

"Intresting," he said telling her about his meeting with Mr. Dylan.

"Sounds like you wanted hit him."

"I almost did. He's just like quite few people I've met."

"Why?"

"Because he thinks I'm living under my potential. Like, just because I'm a computer genius, and I'm good at math means I have to go to MIT or something."

"Becasue you don't want to?"

"Exactly. I like being a fisherman. It's something I've always been good at. It's something my family's always done, and-"

"You don't have to explain it," Lauren said. "I know you have your reasons."

"Thank you," he said kissing her head.

They found Jayden waiting for them. "Hey."

"Hey Amigo. What'd you tell that guy today?"

"I wanted to join the army."

"Nice. Though I can't really see you shooting a gun. Now chasing the bad guys down with a sword, that I can see."

Jayden laughed. "Yeah that sounds more like me."

"What does?" Tiara asked walking up to them.

"Uh...chasing people with a sword," Antonio said.

"Do you study kendo?" She asked Jayden.

"My whole life. Lauren and Antonio too."

"Really?" she asked turning to them.

"Oh yeah," Antonio said. "Jayden was actually the one who got me interested in it."

"And our foster dad is very interested in it, and makes us study it. Along with martial arts."

"Cool," Tiara said. Her phone went off. "Excuse me," she said answering it. "Hi dad," she said walking away.

"That went well," Antonio commented.

"Well we weren't exactly lying," Lauren said. "It's true."

"Yup," said Jayden. "Just a little out of context."


	30. Fighting and Gossip

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty: Fighting and Gossip

A/N: Hello dear people! Here's another chapter! Thanks for all your reviews!

Alpona: to your question about Antonio's dad; I plan to do another story addressing that particular subject, and I will probably post it towards the end of Light and Dark. If you still want to know ahead of time, then I can PM you.

Everyone Else: Read on and please review! Reviews = Antonio giving you a big hug. (Unquestionable happiness.)

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Jayden knew the day was going to be interesting as soon as he walked into the gym.

"Sub today," Andre said as they stretched.

"Sub?" Jayden asked.

"Substitie teacher, Home-school," Andre replied, using the nick name he'd dubbed Jayden with a few days earlier. "Our normal gym teachers at some conference thingy."

"Sound interesting," Kevin muttered. "So what're we doing?"

"Dunno," Andre said.

After they finished the starters the kids all sat in the middle of the gym. One of the subs, a woman with short brown hair, walked out of the equipment room with a colorful bundle in her hands.

"So," said the other sub, a man with glasses and grey hair, "we wanted to do somethin fun today. So, you all get to relive your childhoods today, because we're playing with a parachute."

Everyone except Jayden started cheering.

"Alright, everyone get up and get in a circle," the woman said. Everyone did as they were told. She spread out a large colorful parachute in the middle of them all. "Everyone grab a edge, ans roll it a little."

Jayden grabbed part of a red slice and held onto the edge, tooling it up a little. He had Antonio on his right, and Kevin on his left. Andre was on the other side of Antonio.

The man threw a bunch of small plastic balls onto the parachute, yelling "Popcorn!" as he did.

Immediately everyone started slapping the parachute up and down. Jayden felt his his arms getting pulled from their sockets as the balls bounced into the air.

"Get 'em higher!" someone shouted.

The whipping increased and the balls bounced towards the ceiling. Jayden couldn't ready see a point to this. Antonio started laughing as a couple balls hit their small group lightly.

"Stop. Stop!" the woman shouted. She threw a couple beach balls on. "Resume!"

The beach balls were bounced up high, and balls started bouncing off.

"Hey!" Brett shouted. "All together. Up and snap it down! One...two...three!"

The whole class being down as they brought the parachute to the ground; then everyone brought it up, ans snapped it down. The balls bounced to the ceiling. They quickly snapped the parachute up again, pushing the balls up.

Jayden smiled. There was something oddly satisfying about playing with a giant parachute and bouncing plastic balls on it.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Hey," Jayden said to Tiara as he sat down at lunch.

"Hey," she said. "Hi, Brooke, hi Lauren."

"Hello," Laruen said.

"Greetings," said Brooke, who had recently joined their lunch group. "Hi Kevin."

"Hey Brooke," Kevin said, blushing slightly.

She smiled back. "So, Tiara, have you gotten back to your dad yet?"

"About what?" Jayden asked.

"My birthday's in a couple weeks and he wants to know what I want."

"Ah," Kevin said.

"What did you say?" Jayden asked.

"I told him I want my sword."

Lauren stopped eating and looked at her. "Did you just say sword?"

"Yup. My katana. Dad got it for me a couple users ago, with the promise I wouldn't behead anyone with it, and he made me leave it in Japan when I left."

"Why?" Kevin asked.

"He didn't think customs would appreciate a 16 year old girl bring a sword into the country. But if he mails it, and gives it his special ambassador seal, he can bypass it."

"I see."

Jayden grinned. "You get more amazing every time I talk to you."

"Thank you," Tiara said.

"Don't let Lorrie hear you say that," Lauren said teasingly.

"What does that-" Jayden stopped when they heard a loud bang. They looked over and Jayden sat up straighter.

Brett had his arms crossed and was smirking at Andre. A tray was on the floor between them. Brett pushed Andre, and the other boy retaliated by tackling him to the ground. People started crowding around them, chanting "fight, fight." Antonio jumped up from his table with Lily and Diego. The three of them made it through the crowd. Brett had Andre on the ground, and was choking him. Antonio ran in and jumped on top of Brett .

He pulled the bigger boy off of his friend. Brett turned around and punched Antonio in the face. Antonio felt heat spread through his head. One of Bretts friends had joined in and were ganging-up on Andre. Lily and Diego joined in and protected their friend. Antonio avoided another punch, and kicked Brett in the stomach. The other boy stumbled back and grabbed his arm, pulling Antonio towards him. He punched the gold ranger several more time.

Antonio punched him back and tried to free himself. Brett grabbed the collar of his shirt, ripping it. Antonio punched him again, in the gut, this time.

"Break it up! Break it up!" a couple of teachers said coming between them. One grabbed Antonio's arm, and Brett's arm. More teachers led the other participants away. As they walked they crowd departed to their tables. Antonio looked over and saw Jayden and Lauren were giving him equal looks of disapproval.

_Theirs is nothing compared to Ji when he finds out._ The teachers led the kids to to the principal's office. The principal was a serious looking man with glasses, and a bald head.

"Alright," he said. "Who started it?" He looked expectantly at the group of kids standing in front of him.

"They did," Brett said pointing at Antonio, Andre, Lily, and Diego.

"No we didn't!" Lily protested. "Brett did! He attacked Andre and-"

The principal held up his hand, silencing her. "We'd not going to start the blame game. Now, who started the fight?"

"Antonio," Alex said. "He punched Brett and the rest of us joined in. Anyone can tell you that's how it happened."

Antonio clenched his fist. He'd gotten to know how Brett worked in the last week. He knew the bully would intimidate everyone who said it didn't happen the way he said.

"Is that true?" the principal asked, looking at Antonio.

"No."

"So you're saying that five people, and a cafeteria full of witnesses, apparently, are wrong?"

"Yes."

The principal sighed and shook his head. "I know you're still new here Mr. Garcia, but lying will only make it worse. Just admit to what you did."

"It wasn't just him," Andre said quickly. "It was me too. We both did."

"Is that true?"

Antonio glanced at Andre, then nodded. "Yes."

The principal sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Since this is your first offense, Mr. Garcia, I won't call your foster dad."

_Hallelujah!_

"The rest of you, however, I will be making calls home. All of you, however, you will all be in in-school-suspension for two days, starting tomorrow. Mr. Garcia and Mr. Rodriguez, for starting the fight you will have three days. Understand?" Everyone nodded. "Good. Now return to class."

They all filed out of the office. Antonio sighed. He couldn't believe he got blamed for this...

_Well, actually I can._

He got the strongest feeling of deja vú.

_Antonio started it..._

_It's Garcia's f__ault..._

_He thew the first punch..._

_I was just trying to defend myself..._

_That psycho attacked me..._

Antonio sighed and steered himself to the cafe to grab his bag.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mia wondered why Brett, Alex and their fellow low-lives were late to class. It has been pretty pleasant without them around.

"I heard the new kid attacked Brett," a girl behind Mia whispered to her companion.

"Quiet," the teacher said, not looking up.

"Why?" the girls friend asked.

"I dunno, but held his own apparently."

"Hope it knocked Brett down a few pegs," the companion replied.

"Quiet!"

Mia went back to her work as the two girls fell silent.

-Samurai Ranger High-

_Was that your friend involved in the fight today? _Kevin read.

_Yeah, _He wrote before passing the note back.

_I heard Brett said your friend started it._

_That not true!_

_I know. Don't worry. I was there._

_I know, but you know how the rumor mill works._

_True. I've heard many different accounts, I us one that Andre told Brett he was going to kill him._

_I don't see that being true._

_Me neither. Is your foster dad going to be mad?_

_You have no idea._

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Did you see the fight?" Ethan asked.

"No," Emily said.

"I heard that the new Hispanic kid, threw Brett into the ground kicked him so hard, he broke his ribs."

"High, highly doubt that's how it happened."

"That's what I heard."

"You believe everything you hear?"

"Sometimes."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Dude, I swear that's how I heard it."

"I doubt that's how it happened," Mike replied.

"Why?" Roger asked.

"Because the dude's my foster brother. I know him, and he wouldn't threaten to kill someone."

"Why not?"

"Because he's not crazy!"

"Well I heard he went all ninja on Alex."

"Wait, I heard he fought Brett."

"I also heard that Andre knocked Brett out cold and they had to pry him off of the guy."

Mike rolled his eyes. "Now I really can't see that happening."

"I dunno. Andre and Brett have gone at it before. Nothing this big though."

"If I was Andre, I'd show Brett to back off."

"Sure you would. Hey, if your foster dad finds out-"

"First of all, he will, because it's as if he has eyes in the back of his head. And when he does, Antonio is a dead man."

-Samurai Ranger High-

After the final bell Antonio walked to find Lauren.

"Hey," he said to her.

"Why," she said grabbing his hand. "So how much trouble did you get in?"

"It could've been worse."

They found Jayden and Mia at the gate. "Antonio-" Jayden began.

"Don't," Antonio said holding up his hand. "Day's been hard enough as it is."

"What exactly happened?" Mia asked.

"Yeah," Mike said walking up with Emily and Kevin.

"Antonio got in a fight," Kevin said.

"Why?" Emily asked as they left the school.

"I was just trying to help Andre."

"Did you get in trouble?" Mike asked.

"Yup. Three days ISS, and Brett convinced the principal I started it."

"What's ISS?" Lauren asked.

"In-school-suspension. Basically I have to sit in a silent room and do work all day."

"It sucks," Mike added.

"So now the principal thinks you started it?" Jayden asked. Antonio nodded. "Does Ji know yet?"

"No. Thank God. I'll tell him when we get home."

"You won't have a choice," Kevin commented, noticing Antonio's lip was swelling.

"How much trouble do you think I'll be in?"

It didn't bode well that no one answered.


	31. Normal Teenage Converstions

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-One: Regular Teen Converstaions

A/N: Hey people! I haves another chapter! Yay! Please review! Pretty please!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

As soon as the rangers got home Ji knew something was wrong. First of all Antonio was too quiet. Second of all, he had a swollen face, and a torn shirt. "What happened?"

The others looked at the gold ranger. "Uh...I...got in a fight today."

Ji sighed and shook his head, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Why?"

"Because this guy was beating up a friend of mine and I went to help him...And it sort of got out of control. I didn't start it though."

"I see. And did the school punish you?"

"Yes. I have in-school-suspension for three days."

Ji didn't say anything for a minute. "Antonio, I understand that you just wanted to help. I commend you for standing up for your friend, however, our plan does not work of you get suspended."

"Yes Ji."

"And you shouldn't fight in school. Particularly because your training gives you a distinct advantage."

"Yes Ji. It won't happen again."

"I know it won't. If this happens again, I won't be as understanding. For now though, you can do Mike's chores, along with your own own for a week. Don't try to argue with me," he added, seeing Antonio opening his mouth. "Now go get ready for training."

"Yes Ji," Antonio said going to his room.

"You got off easy," Lauren said.

"I know. I thought for sure he'd kill me."

"Me too."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"So is Ji going to punish you?" Kevin asked as Antonio started sparring him.

"Yeah, oh by the way Mike, I have to do your chores for a week."

"Yes!" the green ranger said excitedly.

"It could be worse," Mia said.

"Yeah," Antonio said thinking about the various punishments he'd received over the years for "picking fights with others".

"Andre had the right idea though," Mike commented. "There's a couple kids I wouldn't mind punching in that school."

"Like who?" Emily asked.

"Well Brett because he's a jerk."

"I would love to smack the smirk off Ashely's face," Emily said absentmindly.

"Who's Ashely?" Lauren asked.

Emily tapped her forehead against her bokka. She hadn't told her friends about her issues with her bully yet. "Um...She a girl...who doesn't really like me."

"She doesn't?" Mia asked, aiming a hit for the yellow ranger's head.

"No. She's actually a pretty mean person."

"Ashley. Oh yeah she's in my gym class," Mike said. "Heard she's got an easily-jealous boyfriend. I've been told to avoid her."

"I recommend it," Emily said. "She's not nice. Her and the ponytail-croonies."

"Who?" Mike asked, amused.

Emily smiled. "That's what Belle calls them."

"She's your friend right?" Mike asked.

"Not my friend persay, but I know her. She really quiet. No wonder. I think she has some kind of a speech impediment. People must make fun of her all the time."

"Well I'm sure she appreciates you standing by her," Mia said, regarding the younger girl fondly.

Emily smiled.

"What about you, Jayden?" Kevin asked, blocking one of Antonio's blows. "Anyone you'd like to punch?"

"Alex," Jayden said automatically.

"The guy from the assembly?" Antonio asked. "The one who instigates the teasing?"

"The very same."

"He's in my astronomy class," Mia said. "He's a jerk."

"I agree," Jayden said.

"Wait he teases you?" Mike asked.

"Amongst other things."

"What does he say?" Lauren asked, suddenly feeling a little protective of her younger brother.

"Just that I'm an idiot, and I'm stupid, and a retard."

"Basically nothing new or original?" Kevin asked.

"Basically yes."

"What about you Kev?" Mia asked. "Any enemies?"

"He's to busy talking to Brooke to make enemies," Jayden said.

All the girls started grinning, while the boys raised one eyebrow.

"Who's Brooke?" Mike asked.

Kevin shot Jayden a look, then tried to hit Antonio on the head. "She's just a friend," Kevin said.

"Just a friend?"

"Sure," Antonio said rolling his eyes. "She's a just a friend who is an aspiring olympian, who also enjoys some friendly teasing, and makes him blush-"

"I don't blush!" Kevin snapped.

"Yes you do," Jayden said, matter-of-factly.

"Shut up. Like you're any better with Lorrie, or Tiara."

Jayden's smiled quickly disappeared, and he glared at the blue ranger, also while turning red. "Tiara is my friend. I find her very interesting. That's it."

"What about Lorrie?" Antonio asked.

"She...she's...we...we have a couple classes together."

"He's stuttering," Emily said. "You liiiiike her."

"No I don't."

"Do too," Lauren teased. "You're blushing."

"Am not!"

"Are too amigo!" Antonio said, laughing and dodging Kevin's attack.

"Shouldn't we focus on training?"

"We are," Emily protested. "We're just enjoying a friendly conversation at the same time."

"Feels more like I'm being brutally punished for something."

"Welcome to the conversational world of normal teenagers," Mia said.

"Talking about who you're crushing on and who you'd like to punch," Lauren said. "I think I can do without."

"Nope," Emily said shaking her head. "You love it and you know it."

Little did the rangers know Ji had heard most of their conversation. He smiled at the thought of Lauren and Jayden engaging in normal teenage activity. He went back into the house and left the rangers to their own devices.

"What about you Mia?" Emily asked. "Any cute guys caught your eye?"

The pink ranger immediately thought of Seth and Jaxon. "Maybe..."

"Anyone we know?"

"You don't really know them. We're more just...it's hard to explain."

"I see," Emily said.

"Hey Antonio," Kevin said, smacking him on the arm, "think Andre will get lucky and Tiara will finally het rid of Brett?"

"Probably not," Antonio said. "She's really seems to like him."

"Why though?" Lauren asked. "She's so sweet, and he's a total creep."

"And kind of violent," Mike added.

Jayden bit his lip. He didn't like the idea of Tiara being with someone who was so overpowering and out-of-control. _Wait, why do I care? I'm not her b- _He stopped the train of thought. Wether he'd only known the young girl for a week of not, she was amazing, and he cared about her.

"Has anyone seen anything suspicious?" Jayden asked.

"Nope," Kevin said.

"I honestly think all of our answer will be the same as they were last time," Lauren said.

"How are we supposed to figure this out?" Mia asked. "The only way I can see is if the nighlocks keep attacking the school."

"I'm afraid you may be right," Jayden said. He knew they were all frustrated. They'd been there for a week, and still had no idea what, or who, they were looking for, and what connection it, or they, had to the samurai's world.

Unbeknownst, to all though, someone in the house did know.

They just didn't know it yet.


	32. Climbing, Talking, and Snapping

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Two: Climbing, Talking, and Snapping

A/N: Hello! I have finished another chapter! Yay! :) Please review! (Reviews = Jayden giving you a big hug. (Awesomeness.))

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

"Hi Belle," Emily said in art class the next day. She automatically sat next to the quiet girl.

"H...hi...Emily..." Belle said shyly.

"Aww, look," Ashely said. "Loser one is making friends with loser two. How sweet!" Her ponytail-croonies laughed as they walked past.

Belle looked away, clearly hurt. Emily cast the mean girls a dirty look.

"Careful, slut," Ashley said. "Your face might get stuck like that. Not that it would make a difference anyways."

"I'd still be better looking than you," Emily retorted.

"You saying I'm ugly?!"

"It's not that you're ugly persay. Just think of yourself as a beautiful monkey."

Ashley's face contorted in fury, but she didn't have a comeback. Satisfied she had won Emily turned around.

"Y...You...sh...should...n't...h...have...d...done ...th...that," Belle said. "Sh...She...she'll m...make..y...your...li...life...m...miserable."

Emily shook her head sadly. "Some other kids beat her to that a long time ago. Everything she says are things I've heard many times. Besides, I didn't like the way she was talking about you."

Belle smiled briefly. "W...wh...Why...d...do...y...You...c...care?"

"Because being bullied and alone is the worst possible combination of things to be. Besides, you're a pretty cool person."

"I...if...y...you...s...sa...say...s...so."

"I do. Trust me."

"I...d...do."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"How did I do?" Mia asked Seth.

"Uh..." he replied. "It's...well...it's..."

"Do you like it?" Mia asked, looking at the attempt she'd made to make crepes.

"It has an interesting texture," he said carefully. "I've never had a crepe that tastes like this before."

"Thank you," Mia said beaming.

Seth smiled. "You have a very pretty smile."

"Oh. Thank you," Mia said.

"Do you plan on being a chief?"

"No."

"Oh," Seth replied a little relieved. "Then what do you want to do?" he asked.

"Well I'd like to work with kids, but I really want to be a wife and mother."

"Nothing to extreme," Seth said nodding. "I like that. It's nice to meet a person who appreciates simplicity of life sometimes."

"Really? Moat people think it's weird, and underachieving."

"Just because you want a family doesn't make you underachieving. Look at me for example. I want to be a chief in a fancy restaurant, but I still think about meeting the perfect girl and having a couple kids."

"Well I've always wanted a big wedding," Mia said.

"The bigger the better," Seth responded. "With gourmet food of course."

"Of course," Mia agreed like it was obvious.

"You know the conversation's much more interesting it two people here. Just don't tell Emma I said that."

"Your secret is safe with me."

"I knew it would."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Hey Tiara," Lauren said close to the end of their class. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure. What's up?"

"Why do you go out with Brett? I mean he makes jellyfish look friendly."

"He's not all bad-"

"Were you not there yesterday?"

"He's just...it's...it's like this...it's just...complicated."

"Why don't you break up with him?"

"Becuase...it's complicated."

"I see."

"Plus he's not all bad. He's just a little hard to deal with."

"That's an understatement."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Emily strapped on her harness and met with her group. Today they were going out to the rock wall to climb. She walked next to Belle, and three other girls.

Once they reached the wall the three girls stepped back.

"One of you two can go first," a red head named Mel said.

"How about you Emily?" a raven haired girl with green highlights named Dawn said.

"Ok," Emily said. She hooked on the carabina and put on a helmet. She turned to see Belle was her belayer. They went through the safety checks and Emily was given the go ahead. She faced the wall and looked up. The top stemmed very far up there. She took a deep breath and found her fist foot and hand hold and pushed up. Her samurai training gave her good strength and grip as she climbed. She was about three feet from the ground now.

She looked to her left and saw a rock that would help her up. She shifted her weight to her left foot and jumped up, snagging the rock. She pulled herself up and found another hold for her other foot. She had to use her fingers to cling to an extremely small rock with her right-hand. She smiled and lifted her right leg up to another rock. She had to turn another rock so she could grab it with her left hand. She glanced around for a minute before finding another hand hold on the right side.

She looked down and saw she was now over ten feet from the ground. She kept her hips close to the wall and pulled herself higher. She had to balance both her feet on small rocks and hold most of herself up with her arms. She slipped a little, but regained her footing. The next time she looked down she was almost to the top. She smiled. The view from the top was going to be amazing! She was excited so excited that she missed a foot-hold and slipped. The rope tightened and she stopped, hanging in mid air. She grabbed onto the wall and kept climbing.

She reached the top and looked out over the school grounds. She could see all the buildings of the school, surrounded by the wall. She saw the city in the distance and the sea of trees surrounding it. She squinted and she could just make out the ocean in the distance. "I'm coming down," she shouted to her belay team.

"Ok!"

She leaned back and started making her decent. She was half way down when the rope went slack and she dropped. Literally. "Ah!" she screamed. A few feet from the ground her harness jerked her up as the rope stopped. She was lowered down gently to the ground. She leaned against it, her breath shaky.

"Are you ok?" Mr. Reece asked running over.

"Yeah," Emily said. "Just a little shaken up."

"Maybe you should sit out the rest of class."

"No," Emily said straightening up and taking a deep breath. "I'm fine."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah," she said including the carabina. "Trust me scarier things have happened."

"Ok. If you're sure."

"I am." She turned to her belay group. "Thanks," she said to Mel, the back-up belayer.

"No problem."

Emily saw that Belle was struggling to unclip herself. She went over and helped her. Belle stepped back and gave Emily one guilt filled look before turning away and walking to the teacher. She said something to him and he nodded. He called to a gym aid who walked away with Belle. Emily sighed.

_Well gym has been interesting today._

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden was reminding himself for the tenth time in chemistry not to smack Alex.

"What's wrong?" Alex hissed in Jayden's ear. "Is the poor homeschool boy getting upset?"

"Leave me alone," Jayden said, clenching his pencil.

"Why should I? Are you hurt, foster boy?"

"Leave me alone."

"Why are you in a home huh? Did your parents leave you?"

"Shut up," Jayden growled.

"Were they crack-heads that spent grocery money on drugs?"

"Shut up!" Jayden said, his eyes boring into Alex.

"Is your dad in jail? Did he rob someone? Beat them to death?"

"I'm warning you, shut up."

"I bet he was a drug addict who raped- ow!" he howled as Jayden stabbed his pencil into his hand.

"Jayden!" the teacher said. "What was that about?"

"He...He-"

"Go to the principal's office. Now."

Jaydne grabbed his bag and stormed out of the room.

_I don't care if they suspend me, or give me detention, or whatever! No one says that about my dad! No one!_

-Samurai Ranger High-

Antonio sighed as he tried to focus on his work. He had been stuck at the desk all day. He'd even has to eat lunch there. His desk was like a cynical with walls on three sides. They were so high he couldn't see anyone else. So far he'd gotten ahead in Marine Bio, and done make-up work for the physical activity he'd missed in gym. He was slowly making his way through his Italian work when the door opened.

Immeadeatly every head shot up. There'd been no one coming in or out for hours, and any human interaction was welcomed. Antonio's mouth dropped open when he saw Jayden walk in.

"Sit down. Shut up. Do your work," the ISS teacher said, not looking up. "If you talk, or cause trouble you'll have your sentence doubled. Welcome to solitary confinement. High school style."

Jayden nodded and chose a seat in the corner. He looked frustrated and upset. He caught Antonio's eye and and looked way. The gold ranger sighed and turned back to his work.

-Samurai Ranger High-

After the final Emily looked for Belle. She sighed when she couldn't see her anywhere.

"Who you looking for?" Mike asked when he caught up to her.

"Belle," Emily answered.

"Why?"

"Tell you later," she said as they met up with Kevin.

"Have you guys heard what I heard?"

"You mean that Jayden stabbed a kid in fourth period today? Oh yeah."

"Jayden did that?" Emily asked.

"What did Jayden do?" Mia asked walking up.

"Supposedly he stabbed someone in the hand today," Kevin said.

"Why would he do something- wait a minute. That explains why Alex wasn't in astronomy today. If it happened."

"Fisrt Antonio, now Jayden," Mike said. "There must be something in the water here. Right Kevin? Kevin?"

Kevin couldn't hear Mike. He was too busy watching Brooke. She was walking with one of her friend. She caught the blue ranger's eye and smiled. Kevin smiled back, feelings his spirits lift. Mike looked in the direction of Kevin's gaze and smirked.

The three of them continued to the gate where Antionio, Lauren, and Jayden were waiting for them. Jayden looked seriously upset and angry.

"Why guys," Antonio said.

"So how was ISS?" Kevin asked as they left the school.

"Boring."

"It's a punishment, it's not supposed to be fun," the blue ranger pointed out.

"Well the only interesting thing was when this guy showed up," Antonio said, elbowing Jayden.

"You were in the ISS room?" Emily asked.

"Yes," Jayden said.

"Why?" Kevin asked.

"A stabbed Alex in the hand with my pencil."

"Good for you," Mia said.

"Why would you do something like that?" Lauren asked. "Between you and Antonio we're all going to get suspended."

"Hey!" Antonio said.

"Because he went to far," Jayden said.

"How?"

"He...He was saying stuff about dad."

Lauren blinked. "What?"

"He was...he was saying stuff about dad being a drug addict, and a murdurer,...and a rapist. I just couldn't take it."

No one said anything for a minute.

"Sounds like he deserved it then," Mike said.

"Yeah," Emily agreed.

"You should've stabbed him in the eye," Lauren said sincerely.

"I didn't even hurt him," Jayden said. "The principal just made me go to ISS for the rest of the day because this is the first time I got in trouble and no one got hurt."

"Yet," Kevin said.

"Well, let's hope Ji is as understanding," Mia said.

"We don't really have to tell him," Lauren said. "I mean, Jayden's learned his lesson, right little brother?"

Jayden nodded. "No more stabbing people with pencils."

"Well as long as he's learned his lesson," Kevin said.

"And he doesn't do it again," Mia said.

"Ji doesn't have to know," said Mike.

"Absolutely," Emily agreed.

"It's not even that big a deal," Antonio said.

Jayden smiled. "You guys are amazing."

"We know," Mike said. "We know."


	33. Sneaking Around

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Three: Sneaking Around

A/N: Hello! I bring another chapter for your reading enjoyment. Remeber reviews = free morpher day!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

Later that night Kevin was in his room laying on his bed. He had finished his homework already and was thinking. Mostly about Brooke. The thought of her brought a smile to his lips. He'd never been to interested in girls, he'd always been to focused on training for the Olympics. He's had crushes before, and a girlfriend once, but that was only natural. He'd never felt this way about anyone when it came to Brooke.

She was dedicated, smart, funny, persistent, beautiful, interesting...the list went on. He had a sudden idea and sat up. He had a very, un-Kevin-like idea. He got his shoes on and slipped out of his room. He still had a couple hours before Ji demanded they all go to bed. He made it to the front door unnoticed and slipped out into the yard. He ran to the gate and left the yard, heading into the city.

The streets weren't very busy because it was like 6:30, so Kevin didn't have to worry about bumping into people. He jogged through the streets, heading for the Howard Gym. It was where Brooke had told him she practices. He'd heard of it. It was one of the few places in the city that had a full on gymnastics set-up. It was also very expensive. He found the gym and walked into the foyer.

To his left there was a large pool with people swimming. To his right there was a wall with a stairwell. He decided to follow the signs, and heads up the stairs. Here he could see why Brooke liked it. There was a large mat, perfect for floor routines, pommels, balance bars, rings, and a bunch of other stuff. He spotted Brooke doing tricks on a trampoline. He walked over to her smiling. "Hi."

"Kevin!" she exclaimed, jumping off in a backflip, and landing in front of him. "Hi."

"Show off," he said smirking.

"What're you doing here?"

"I just wanted to see you. But if you're busy-"

"No! I mean, stay. I'd love to show you some of my more advanced routines."

"I'd love to see them," he replied honestly. She smiled and hopped back onto the trampoline. She started jumping and doing flips. He watched in amazement as she tucked her knees to her chin and landed on her back. She was bounced back up and spread her arms out, summer-saluting across the trampoline.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Ugh!" Antonio sighed. "I still can't believe I have two more days of ISS to sit through. Do you know how hard it is to stay silent for six hours!"

"I think the self-control lessons could be good for you," Lauren said patting him on the shoulder.

"It was terribly quiet in there," Jayden commented.

"You were only there for two periods," Antonio said. "You don't get to complain."

"I wasn't. Just pointing out a fact."

"Well I hope you can resist stabbing more pencils into people because once this gets around the school everyone's going to have some interesting new names for you."

"Such as?"

"I dunno, but I can guarantee phsyco who'll be one of them."

"So Lang as they aren't saying he's a power ranger, we should be fine," Lauren said.

"Remeber though," Antonio said to Jayden. "Whatever they say is just words."

"I know," Jayden said. "And on a normal basis I wouldn't be fazed by them. It's just...I was caught off guard. I didn't expect kids would be so...mean."

"They can be," Antonio said. "But they just talk to hear themselves talk. Don't let it get to you."

"I'll try," Jayden said.

"Even if Alex deserved to be stabbed," Lauren said.

"Yes," Antonio agreed. "He shouldn't have said that."

"But if he does it again," Lauren continued. "And I'm sure he will, just ignore him. Please. I know you were standing up for dad, but Alex is full of hot air. If he knew the truth, he wouldn't say those things."

"Igonorance is no excuse-"

"I know it isn't. But try to remember that were better than that. You can't let him get to you."

"I know," Jayden said.

"They're just words," Antonio said. "Just words."

"I know. But they hurt like getting hit with a bokka."

"With you swinging it," Antonio said. Jayden threw a book at him.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Brooke laughed. "You know you're really funny," she said to Kevin.

"No. According to Mike I don't have a very good sense of humor."

"Well I beg to differ."

"You're going to have to take that up with him."

"I just might," Brooke said smiling. The two of them Sat against the wall on the ground. Brooke leaned on Kevin and put her head on his shoulder.

Kevin felt his heart rate pick up. "You're pretty amazing," he said to her. He looked down at her and shrugged her head up. "I've never met someone like you."

"Me nether. I mean...You discipline and dedication is admirable."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Moat guys wouldn't understand my need to practice constantly."

"Well, I do," Kevin said taking her hand.

"I know you do."

Kevin stared into her beautiful dark eyes. He leaned in closer, owing his eyes.

"Brooke!"

The two quickly broke apart and scrambled to their feet. "Dad," Brooke said. "What are you doing here?"

"I was waiting outside for you. I'm here to pick you up. And who is this?" he asked, scrutinizing Kevin.

"Uh...Dad..this is Kevin. He's a...friend from school. Kevin...this is my dad, Jacob Daniels."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Daniels," Kevin said politely, holding out his hand.

Brooke's dad merely turned away and looked at his daughter. "Lets go. You have chores to do."

"Ok. By Kevin. See you tomorrow."

"Bye Brooke. Nice to meet you sir," he said as they walked away. _I don't see how that could be gone any worse._

-Samurai Ranger High-

Kevin snuck back into the living room and shut the door quietly behind him.

"Where we're you?" Mike asked.

Kevin jumped and turned around. "Jeez Mike. You scared the hell out of me."

"Cool. So where were you?"

"Just...out for a walk."

"A walk?"

"Yeah," Kevin said. "What are you a lawyer?"

"You wish."

"Ok." They stood there for a minute. "Well I'm going to bed."

"Ok," Mike said, watching Kevin go. He smirked.

_Whoever she is, I love the effect she's having on I don't like that I'm not the one corrupting him._


	34. Thrills, Dissapointment, and Lock-down

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Four: Thrills, Dissapointment, and Lock-down

A/N: Hello! I have finally written another chapter! Yay! Please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

When the rangers got to school the next day Emily immediately ran to find Belle. She found her sitting at her usual table in the corner of the yard. She was sketching out a picture. "Hey," Emily said sitting down next to her. "Why did you disappear yesterday?"

Belle stopped her sketching and looked at Emily. "B...be...because...I...w...was...u...up...set...w ith...m...myself."

"Why?"

"B...because..I...had...a...m...muscle..sp...spasm ...And...I...a...almost...m...made...y...you...g.. .get...h...hurt."

"Belle it wasn't something you can control. And Mel caught me before I got hurt. It's ok. And I promise you, I've been in scarier situations."

"S...so...y...You...don't...h...hate...m...me?"

"No! Of course not! I know it was an accident."

Belle smiled. "O...Ok."

"Alright then," Emily said. "So what're you drawing?"

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Whoa!" Jayden said as someone jumped on his back. "Who- oh. Hey Lorrie."

"Hey Jay," she said grinning at him. "Have you heard the good news?"

"They've cancelled math?"

"No. Guess again."

"You got an A on the test."

"God I wish. No they've announced the date of the formal!"

"Formal?" Jayden asked as he started walked around the school grounds with Lorrie on his back.

"Well, semi-formal really, but you get the idea."

"Actually no. I don't."

"It's a dance silly!"

"Dance?"

"Yeah. It's going to be so awesome! It's in like a month."

"Cool," Jayden said, feigning interest.

"Well there's no need to be too excited," Lorrie said doing her eyes.

Jayden laughed.

-Samurai Ranger High-

In physics Brooke smiled at Kevin as they sat at their group. "Were you in trouble?" he asked.

"No," she said. "He only gave me a lecture about how boys are the devil and all that."

"I see," Kevin said.

"He's just been so tight lately. Especially with my gymnastics."

"Oh. He doesn't want you to get distracted."

"Yeah." She grabbed his hand under the table. "But I don't mind getting a little distracted."

"Uh...Well...d...distractions...are...bad..." Kevin stuttered as his brain stopped working.

"I don't know," Brooke laughed. "I think some distractions could be good. After all, just one can't hurt."

"Of course not!" Kevin agreed nodding, having regained control of his speech. "One distraction can't really be that bad."

Brooke grinned. "Exactly."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden couldn't stop grinning in gym. Kevin grinned back at him. "Antonio is going to be sorry he missed this."

"Let us be clear," Mr. Casey said. "These are not real swords. They have blunt ends, but you can still hurt someone. Never swing it unless your opponent has all of his safety gear on." Jayden and Kevin rolled their eyes. "So, for today well just show you basic blocks and parries. Everyone come grab a sword."

The kids got up and grabbed swords from the racks. "Theese things are pathetic," Jayden said looking at his plastic sword disappointed.

"I know," Kevin said. "They're so light and flimsy."

"What did you think we would be using?" Brooke asked. "Broadswords?"

"No, but a bokka would've still green better." Brooke laughed tapped him lightly with her sword. "Is was serious," he whispered to Jayden.

The red ranger nodded. Even compared to a practice katana these swords were weak. _I feel like this is a insult to my skill._

"Can't wait until Antonio finishes ISS so he can see how pathetic these are."

"I know."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Ok, our next presenter is...Emily."

The yellow ranger go tot her feet and stood in front of her small music class. "Uh...my instrument presentation is the flute," she said holding her flute up. "My older sister. Serena, taught me how to play." Bit knowing what else to say she brought the flute to her lips and began to play. She played with a crisp sound that resonated through the room. Her classmates were entranced as she played.

When she was done she waited for someone to say something. All the kids started clapping. She smiled and took a bow.

"That was very impressive," her teacher said. "A plus. You're very talented."

"Thank you," Emily said sitting down.

"You're really good," the girl next to her in the circle said. "Your sister must be really proud of you."

"Think so?"

"Of course! I'm sure she beams with pride when she thinks about you."

Emily blushed and looked away fingering her flute. _I hope so._

-Samurai Ranger High-

Antonio sighed. He'd been quiet all day and if was along him. If this was what happened every time you were caught flinching, he definitely wasn't going to do it again.

"Lunch time," the ISS teacher grunted.

Everyone scrambled from their seats and lined up. They put their hands behind their back. Antonio flinched when Brett kicked him in the back of the legs. He bit his lip to resist saying something. Talking resulted in another day in the Prison room. They headed for the cafe to get their lunches. As they walked Bett made a point to keep stepping on his heels. Antonio retaliated by stopping suddenly, causing Brett to run into him.

Brett sneered and kneed Antonio quickly in the back before the gold ranger could start moving again. Antonio narrowed his eyes. He stopped suddenly again, but stepped back forcibly, knocking Brett to the ground. The bully glared at him. Antonio raised his eyebrows quickly, then lowered them. He turned and caught up with the others. They went into the cafe. Antonio saw Jayden, Lauren, and Kevin sitting with Tiara, Lorrie, and Brooke. Antonio smiled. He his head was pushed forward as Brett smacked the back of it. Antonio shot him a look then grabbed his Styrofoam tray. Apparently one of the things you lose in ISS is the ability to lose choose your own lunch.

He peeked in and saw a sandwich. They're group moved back out the door towards the ISS room. As they walked Brett started kicking Antonio again.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mike clicked his carabina into place and put his helmet on. His belayer, Shane, went through the safety checks. "Ok, Mike. You're all set to go. On belay!"

"Don't drop me," Mike said. He placed his hands on the rocks and pulled himself up. He scrambled from rock to rock slowly making his way up. He saw a good rock and let go of the wall, swinging over to it.

"Hey Mike!" Shane shouted. The green ranger looked down. "Someone's going down!"

Mike looked up. Another student who had gone up another panel on the wall was getting clipped into the zip line. Mike had been ecstatic when he found out the cable stretching across the field was in fact a zip line. He started moving up again, then quickly positioned himself to hang on. As the other student stepped off the entire wall shook with tremors. It rattled the wood all the way down like there was an earthquake. Mike gripped the rocks hard. When the shaking subsided he continued his journey up the wall. When he reached the top the teacher helped him up onto the platform.

He hooked the zip line carabina in before unclipping the original one. "Off belay!" he shouted to the team below. "Ok," he sais to Mike provisioning the green ranger on the edge of the platform. "Would you like to take the coaches challenge?"

"Which is?"

"Cross your arms and fall backwards."

Mike looked down. "Ok," he said nodding. He positioned himself, heels hanging off the edge. The coach gave him a nod. Mike took a deep breath and fell backwards. He freefell for a few precious, then the harness caught him and he snapped up. He zoomed along the cable across the field. "Whoo!" he shouted. On impulse he grabbed the rope on the carabina and pulled his legs up so he was upside-down. He reached the end and slipped down towards the middle. He flipped back down and someone garbbed his ankle and slowed him down. They led him to a step ladder where he climbed up a few rungs and unclipped himself.

Another student tied the carabina to another piece of string and went to run it to Coach Brown at the top of the wall. Mike climbed down from the ladder, his heart still thundering with adrenaline when his feet hut the ground. "That was awesome!"

"You looked really cool," Ashley said walking up to him. "Not many people would flip themselves like that."

"Thanks. I'm kind of a dare devil," he said lazily.

"Really?" she asked sliding her hand into his. "I like that."

Mike quickly pulled his hand away. "Uh...I have something to do...over there..." he turned away and started sprinting towards the rock wall.

"We'll see," Ashley whispered. "We'll see."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Now was enjoying the silence of Astronomy without Brett and he friends. She barely noticed when the intercom went off. Then the intercom lady said, "Students and staff we are now in lock down. Students and staff we are now in lock down." She noticed that.

"Alright you all know the drill."

Now got up from her desk and followed the other kids to the corner by the board. They all sat on the ground and a huddled group. The teacher closed the curtains on the widows and locked the door. Mia put her head on her knees. The whole class was buzzing with silent curiosity.

Mia started tracing symbols on the floor. Little did she know that most of the other samurai were doing the exact same thing, huddle in the corners of their classrooms. She glanced around. A few girls had their heads resting on boys' shoulders. She smiled. The whole class jumped as someone rattled the door knob from the outside. She held her breath as whoever it was walked away. Excited whispers broke out.

"Quiet." About twenty or thirty minutes later the intercom went off again. "We are now out of lock down. Thank you very much for your cooperation."

Mia pushed herself up to her feet and walked back to her desk.

-Samurai Ranger High-

After-school Jayden waited for his friends by the gate as usual. He looked around and spotted Deker in the trees again. Curiosity got the better of Jayden over common sense and he started walking towards the trees. Deker saw him coming and disappeared. Jayden stood there for a minute, debating going after him.

"Jayden!" Antonio shouted. "What're you doing amigo?" he asked as Jayden joined him ans Lauren.

"Nothing," Jayden said. He glanced back over at the trees, but Deker was gone.

Lauren noticed where he was looking. "Not yet brother," she said. "We'll confront him soon. Just not yet."

A/N 2: ok, so I did the zip line thing at school and took the coaches challenge. Best adrenaline rush ever achieved at school! (And yes the rock wall does shake like that. Luckily I wasn't on it when that happened.) Please review!


	35. Plans, Knighting, and Friendship

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Five: Plans, Knighting, and Frindship

A/N: Hey! Thus chapter was being difficult with me, but I won in the end! Please please please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

As soon as the rangers arrived at school the next day Mia went to find Seth. She smiled when she saw him and ran up, putting her hands over his eyes. "Guess who?!"

"UM...No clue."

"You're no fun. You know that," she said removing her hands as he turned around.

"So I've heard."

"Are you excited foe class today?"

"That's one way to put it," he said not meeting her eyes.

"I'm so happy to be head chief today. We're making omletes too! I made pb&j omletes for my friends once. "

"Ans I'm sure they loved them," he lied. "So Mia," he decided to steer the conversation in another direction. "What're you doing this weekend?"

"Uh...I...my foster dad probably has...things for us to do. Why?"

Well I just though maybe you'd like to hang out on Saturday."

"Really?"

"Yeah. If you want to. I know a great place to walk on the beach."

"Sure," Mia said. "I mean, I'll be there."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's a date."

"It's a date," he agreed nodding.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Last day amigo," Andre said. "Last day."

"Thank god," Antonio said. "I'm tired of being inprisoned."

"I know."

"If this is the punishment for fighting, I think I'll avoid it."

"Good luck with that," Andre replied. "Brett will pull you into something. It's the way he is. Look, if after all this you want to stop hanging around me then I understand."

Antonio frowned as he felt a small feeling of deja vu. "Nope," he said shaking his head. "Andre a simple heardheard bully isn't going to detour me. Besides, I'm in too deep already. We might as well stick together now."

Andre grinned. "Fantastico!"

Antonio laughed at his smile. It was nice to be the person standing by instead of the needing the help for a change.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Emily smiled at Belle's sculpture. "What is it?"

"A tree. W...Well...It's...g...going...t...to...b...be. Wha...ts...y...yours?"

"Hmm...Well I think if I turn it this way it's a dog." The two girls laughed.

"You're really talented," Emily said.

Belle blushed. "N...not...really."

Emily had noticed her stutter was getting better. "You are. Its pretty cool."

"Cool?" a snide voice asked from behind them. "What would ether of you losers know about cool?"

The girls turned around. "We know it's not cool to be mean to others."

"Oo," Ashley sais with fake concern. "I hurt your feelings. Good."

"Y...You're...a...j...j...er..."

"I'm what? A jerk? At least I can talk, retard."

"Shut up," Emily said.

"Make me, slut."

"You wouldn't want that. Trust me."

"Sure. What're you two gonna do? Call your foster parents on me? At least I get to live with my parents and siblings at home!"

Emily could tell this was too much for Belle. She got up and went over to the teacher. "Would it be possible for me and Belle to go get some air?" She asked politely. The teacher looked over and saw the distressed look on Belle's face and nodded. "Thank you" Emily said. She went to Belle and took her hand. "Come on, let's get out of here."

Her friend followed her out into the hall where they sat down, backs against the wall. "Th...Th...an..."

"Don't mention it." Emily paused for a minute. "I didn't know you were in a foster home too."

Belle nodded. "F...for...a...couple...y...ears."

"Oh."

"Wh...What...a...about...y...ou?"

"Oh, um over a year."

"O...h..."

"Don't listen to her," Emily said. "She's a jerk. You're not retarded."

"Th...thanks. An...d...y...your...n...n...not...a...s...slut."

"Thanks. Come on," she held her hand out for Belle. "Lets go back in."

Belle smiled back and took her hand.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden laughed as Brooke knighted Kevin. "What about you Jayden?" she asked.

"I'm good."

"You sure. You look like you want to."

"I really don't."

"You sure?"

"Come on Jayden," Kevin said laughing.

Jayden wondered when the blue ranger has become Mr. Playful. "Fine."

Brooke smiled and tapped each of his shoulders with her sword. "I dub thee, Sir Jayden, the...um...stubborn."

Kevin laughed. "Nice."

"Happy now?"

"Wait if we're knights, what're you?"

"The queen."

"Ok."

Jayden shook his head, wondering how one girl could have this kind of effect on someone.

"Hey Shiba!" Brett yelled across the gym. "Alex has been telling me how you ended up a foster kid! Shame about your dad!"

Jayden clenched his fist.

"If Alex is telling you I'd be willing to bet it's a load of shit since that's usually what comes out of him!" Brooke retorted.

"You're lucky I don't hit girls, or I'd end your career before it starts!"

"Oh I'm so scared!" Brooke rolled her eyes. "Don't mind him. No one likes him and his friends."

"Can't imagine why," Kevin said rolling his eyes.

"Thanks for that," Jayden said.

"No problem. Us social outcasts have to stick together."

"True," Jayden said. "Very true."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mike followed the class to the field containing the rock wall. Instead of climbing though, they continue he'd on past it.

"Hey Mike," Ashley said sliding up next to him.

"Hello," Mike said politely, hoping she'd go away.

"You exacited for the Mohawk Walk?"

Mike shrugged. "I bit. I like everything about Project Adventure."

"Me too, but some of this is kind of scary."

"It's all safe," he replied, sliding away from her as her hand brushed his.

"I know, but still." She slipped her hand slyly into his.

He pulled it out and slid away again.

"What's wrong?" she asked, following him.

"Nothing," he said as she stroked his arm gently. "Just-"

"Just what?"

"Nothing. I have to go find my group," he said quickly leaving. He shivered. There was something wrong with that girl.

-Samurai Ranger High-

_Hey Kevin?_

_Yeah_

_Did you pass the test?_

_You mean the one I studied for? No._

_Me nether._

_High five!_

_Don't sound too excited._

_This class is useless anyways._

_I know it_

_How's Jayden doing?_

_Pretty good. Why?_

_Oh nothing...I just heard that he's a phsyco cause he stabbed Alex._

_That was well deserved on Alex's part._

_What'd he even say?_

_A bunch of mean things about Jayden's dad._

_AH. _

_Yeah. Jayden lost his dad when he was really young, so it rubbed him the wrong way._

_I see. Well if it was me I would've stabbed him too._

_Glad to hear it._

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden gritted his teeth. He hates this assignment. He was supposed to think of the best memory of his childhood. _What am I supposed to use?_ A sudden idea hit him ans he smiled, them started writing.

"Ok class," Mrs. Kane said eventually. "Who would like to read theirs first. Jayden?"

_Why do I have to be first? _He got up and stood in front of the room. He cleared his throat.

"One of the best memories of my childhood happened when I was six. It was the day I met my best friend. I was with my foster dad getting fish at the docks. We went to this one vendor and while he was picking out fish I was just standing there. Then I saw a face peek at me from the other side of the stand. A boy a year younger than me smiled when he saw me. I smiled back and I could tell he liked that I had.

"After we left I didn't see him for a while until we went to get fish again. This time it was really crowded and I got separated from my foster dad. I was pretty freaked out since I didn't know where I was. I ran around, trying to find him, but I was so small, and I couldn't see him. I didn't look where I was going and ran into another boy.

'Hey!' he said from under me as I climbed to my feet. 'Watch where you're- oh it's you.'

Low and behold it was the fisherman's son. 'Hi,' I replied.

'My name's Antonio,' he said.

'I'm Jayden,' I replied.

'What're you doing here Jayden?' he asked me.

'I'm lost. I can't find Ji.'

'I can help you!' he said, energetically. He grabbed my hand and towed me to a pile of crates. He climbed up and helped me stand me next to him.

Now I was able to see the crowd better. 'Ji!' I said excitedly as I climbed down.

'Jayden!' he said running over. 'Are you ok? Are you hurt?'

'No,' I said shaking my head. 'I'm ok.'

'Good,' he said.

I went back over to Antonio who was just sitting on a crate. 'Thanks,' I said.

He smiled. 'Thinada,' he replied. 'I like helping people. Especially an amigo.'

'Amigo?'

'A friend.'

'Friend?' I asked. 'I've never had a friend before.'

'Me either. But we can be friends, right?'

'Right,' I said smiling.

And from that moment on we were. To this day he's still my best friend, and I don't know what I'd do without him."


	36. Saturday Dates

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Five: Saturday Dates

A/N: Hey folks! So we've finally hit the time ing point. Well...one of them. ;) Thanks for all the reviews! Please continue them!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

On Saturday morning the rangers were up early to train. They worked extra hard to make-up for the time they'd lost while in school. Ji found he was impressed with how responsible they were acting.

"Rangers," he said wile they ate lunch. "I've decided you can take the rest of the day off."

"What?" Lauren asked. "Why?"

"Because you've been handling your training and school work well. I think you've earned an afternoon off."

"Fishing!" Antonio said excitedly.

Lauren rolled her eyes. "Really?"

"What? Oh wait...I have an idea.." he said. "I have the perfect date for us."

"Well in that case I should take me pretty lady out," Mike said kissing Emily's hand. The yellow ranger blushed.

Jayden shook his head. He noticed Mia and Kevin had the same look on their faces; like they were planning on doing something.

"I know that look," Ji said to Jayden. "You need to leave too."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Go for a walk through the city."

"Fine," Jayden grumbled.

"You'd think Ji was asking him to do extra chores or something the way he's acting," Antonio whispered to Lauren who elbowed him in the ribs.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Jayden sighed impatiently as he walked down the street. _I can think of a few things that would make a much better use of my time._ He barely noticed where he was going when he ran into someone. "Whoa! I'm sorry."

"Me too- Jayden!"

"Lorrie!" Jayden said, surprisingly happy to see her. "What's up?"

"Not much. Wow. This is the first time I've seen you outside of school."

"I don't get out much."

"I see. What're you doing?"

"Not much, my foster dad kicked me out of the house for the day."

"Me too. My mom said that I need to have some human interaction. Whatever that means."

"I don't know much about it."

"Me nether, but whatever."

Jayden laughed. "So, were both in the same area and not soon anything, and supposed to be having some human interaction, maybe we could do nothing together."

"Do nothing together?"

"Or we could do something. Get ice cream, or something."

"Are you asking me on a date?"

"Yes," he said carefully. "I've never done this before."

"You don't say," she said shaking her head.

"So, what do you say? You wanna go out with me?"

"Yes," Lorrie said taking his hand. "I do."

Jayden grinned uncontrollably. "Cool."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Antonio where are we going?" Lauren asked laughing as he pulled her along.

"You'll see," he said. He led her across a stream and climbed up a rock.

"This has better be amazing," she said as he pulled her up onto the giant rock.

"Oh it will be," he said. He set his fishing pole down and covered her eyes. "Ok, just go this way," he said directing her along. "A little farther. Ok stop!"

"Tonio where are we?" Lauren asked laughing.

"Ok, surprise!"

"Oh my gosh!" Lauren exclaimed. They were standing on a giant rock, most likely on a mountain. She could see over the tops of the trees and the sea in the distance. "This is beautiful."

"Isn't it?"

"So are we just going to sit up here all day?"

"Of course not mí amor. We're going hiking and fishing, but we'll come back here for a picnic and too watch the sun set."

"You are a serious romantic," she said kissing him.

"Just don't tell the others they might get jealous."

"Of course not."

He kissed her passionately. "Tí amo, mí corazon."

"You're very sexy when you use Spanish."

Antonio smiled. "Really?" he asked, forehead pressed against hers.

"Really," she agreed.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Hey Mia!" Seth said.

"Hey Seth," Mia said. "What're we going to do?"

"I was thinking we go to a movie," he suggested.

"I love movies."

"Great." They started walking down the street.

"Let's go this way," he said. "It's a short cut."

"Ok," she said following him down an alley. He held her Hans as she led him along. Mia gasped as someone grabbed her arm and twisted it behind her.

Another man grabbed Seth and put him in a head lock. "Ok this was a bad idea," Seth said.

Mia rolled her eyes in a 'You don't say' kind of way.

"What do we have here boys," the man holding Mia asked.

"A couple of kids by the look of it."

"This one's kind of pretty," the other hissed, playing with Mia's hair.

"Don't touch her!" Seth hissed.

"Who's gonna stop me, pretty boy?"

Mia smirked. She reached up quickly and snatched his hand sliding down her back. She twisted the hand and elbowed him in the ribs. He yelled in pain and released her. She quickly flipped him over her and onto his back. She put her foot on his chest and gave his arm a single twisting/ pulling motion. His shoulder snapped out of its socket. While he screamed she went to help Seth.

He was jerk too and fro, trying to get free. "Mia run!"

Instead, the pink samurai slipped behind him and his assailant and landed a single hard kick between his shoulder blades. He screamed and released Seth who quickly got out of the way. He spun around to face Mia, then fell on his back as she swept his feet out from under him. He tried to get back up, but she kicked him in the. He grabbed it and howled in pain.

"Are you ok?" Seth asked her coming over.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"I swear I didn't want it to go like this."

"It's ok. These scum bags didn't stand a chance."

"I can see that. That was amazing!"

"Really?" she asked as they walked out of the alley.

"Really. Any girl that can kick butt like that is pretty cool."

Mia grinned and took his hand. "Glad you think so."

"Besides now you can protect me."

She laughed. "Yes I can."

-Samurai Ranger High-

Kevin headed straight to the gym where Brooke was. He found her doing things on the bar and say on the wall closets to it. She saw him and smiled. He smiled back. She did a cartwheel and flipped off the bar, landing on her feet. She spun around in a poised way and jumped back onto it. She flipped forward so she was on her hands. She walked the length of the bar and let her feet drop to the ground, letting go of the bar as she did.

"That was amazing," Kevin said.

She shrugged. "Eh. Not really."

"Well it looked amazing."

"I could teach you to do it."

"What?!"

"Come here," she said grabbing his hand. "I'll teach you some of my moves."

She led him to the balance beam and told him to get on. He complied. "Ok," she said. "Just lean forward and place your hand on the bar."

Kevin bent down and put his hands on the smooth wood.

"Ok, so now just swing your feet up."

He tried to swing his feet up, ans felt Brooke's hands guide his legs up and together. "How am I doing?"

"Well your form is horrible," she commented. His legs were a little bent, his back wasn't straight, his feet weren't pointed, and his stomach as was showing.

"Gee thanks," he sais rolling his eyes.

"Just don't expect any judges to give you lots of points."

"Got it. What's next?"

Ok, so now just pick one hand up and move it forward. Then pick your other hand up and move it forward. Like your walking."

As soon as Kevin lifted one of his hands he almost fell over, but Brooke caught him and held his feet up. He set it down, then picked the other hand up. He immediately wished he hadn't as he lost his balance and fell over on his side. Brooke quickly let go of his feet and stepped back. "Thanks for you help."

"I won't catch you if you fall," she said. "It's how you learn."

"Ok," he replied smiling. "Fair enough."

"Try again," Brooke said, piling him to his feet.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Emily sighed and rolled her eyes. "You're a goofball," she said to her boyfriend.

"What?" Mike asked. "Using a stick as a paddle when on a canoe is fun."

"Grab your real paddle," she said. "I'm doin all the work here."

"Fine," the green ranger said tossing his stick into the lake and picking up his paddle from the bottom of the canoe. "So is this an awesome date or what?"

"It's different," Emily conceited. "Like you."

"Hey!" he sais indignantly splashing her.

"I meant that as a compliment!" she said splashing him back.

Mike laughed. "I'm sure you-"

"Mike what's- oh."

On the other side of the lake near the shore she could see Ashley and Todd splashing in the water.

"Crap," Mike said.

"As if I don't see her enough at school," Emily said.

"Let's get out of here," Mike said steering their canoe away.

"Good idea," Emily muttered, as Ashley watched them canoe away.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"So what do you do in your free time?" Lorrie asked Jayden as they walked along the beach.

"Martial arts," he said.

"Really? Cool. What level are you?"

"A high level black belt."

"Sweet. Any other interests?"

"Not really."

"Fair enough. Do your friends do martial arts too?"

"Yes."

"Where do you learn?"

"Um...my foster dad taught me."

"Nice. Hey look!" she said pointing to a group of kids their age dancing around a radio. "Come on."

"Um..I'm not really whoa!" he said as she pulled him over.

"Let's dance!" she said. "Come on Jay."

"I..Don't really know how."

"You don't have to know. You just do it." She grabbed his hands and started helping him sway back and forth. "Now just move your feet." She smiled. "See you got it."

He laughed. "I don't quite think so."

"No. You really are."

He laughed again. She started moving faster and waving her arms. A couple of people gave her strange looks, but she didn't seem to notice. Jayden started copying and dancing around, listening to the music.

"I don't want easy, I want crazy. Are you with me baby? Let's get crazy!" Lorrie sang.

Jayden smiled and moved along with her.

"I don't want easy, I want crazy. Are you with me baby? Let's gets crazy!" Jayden sang with her at the end.

She laughed. "You're a great singer."

"If you say so."

"I do," she said. A slower song came on and she stepped closer wrapping her arms around him. Jayden put his hands on her waist and they danced slowly, stepping back and forth. Lorrie smiled at him.

"You're very...um...pretty...I mean beautiful," Jayden said.

Lorrie laughed. "You sure you haven't done this before?"

"Yes," Jayden said.

"Well you've very handsome."

"Thanks." Jayden couldn't stop looking at her. On impulse her bent down and kissed her softly on the lips. He'd never kissed a girl before, but he'd seen Lauren and Antonio do it many times, and it seemed easy. In reality though, kissing was much better than he thought it would be. Then, to his surprise, Lorrie kissed him back.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Almost!" Brooke said to Kevin.

"Not quite," he responded laughing as he fell off the bar again.

She laughed from the rings. "Keep trying."

"Why can't I play on the rings?" he whined.

"Don't be a baby. Some of us actually have to practice."

"Fine," Kevin said. He got on the beam and got onto his hands.

"You still have awful form."

"Hey!" he said, but he could see her face because his shirt had fallen and and was covering his face. He managed to make it almost to to the end before falling to the ground. "Oof!"

Brooke laughed and flipped off the rings. She ran to Kevin's aid and pulled him to his feet. "Nice fall."

"The landing was a little rough," he admitted.

"Ah but you did it very well," she said.

Kevin laughed and grabbed her wrists and pulled her down next to him. "Your fall wasn't as good as mine."

"Hey, I didn't fall!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

Kevin laughed then leaned in and kissed her. Brooke smiled as he pulled away, then kissed him back.

"Did too."

"Did not!"

-Samurai Ranger High-

Mia laughed as she and Seth walked out of the theatre. "Awesome movie."

"Yeah." Seth suddenly stopped. "Oh great," he said.

"What?" Mia asked. He was staring at a girl who was standing out side the theatre with her friends.

"Nothing," he said. "Let's just go this way."

"Ok," she said grabbing his hand.

"Are you having a good time?"

"Yeah. I am."

"I'm glad." Seth leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the cheek, making her blush.

-Samurai Ranger High-

While the rangers were out having fun Ji was in the Shiba House taking care of things. He raised an eyebrow when he heard a knock on the door. He smiled when he opened it. "Daisuke," he said greeting the old guardian. "What're you doing here?"

"I came to see you. It's important. Are the samurai here?"

"No, they're not. What's this about?"

"How's their undercover palm going?"

"Not well. We've been at it for two weeks and we still have no idea what the nighlock's interest is."

"Well I think I have an idea on what it is," Daisuke said as he followed Ji into his study.

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Are you positive?" Ji asked.

"Beyond a doubt. Are you going to tell them?"

"I'm going to have to. They won't take this well. Especially Lauren and Jayden."

"This will certainly change things up."

"Oh yes," Ji said. "Thank you for telling me."

"It was no trouble."

After Ji let Daisuke out he shook his head. "I'll wait until tomorrow. Let them have one more night of normalcy."


	37. The Truth Revealed

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Truth Revealed

A/N: hello my wonderful people! It's the moment you've all been waiting for! What's in that school? *Grins excitedly* I'm sure most of you have guessed already, but I think it's excited all the same! Please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

The next morning Ji called the rangers into the living room. He clenched his fingers behind his back. This should be interesting.

"What's up?" Jayden asked.

"I have something to discuss with you all."

"What is it?" Lauren asked. Ji had his, 'this is serious' face on.

Ji took a deep breath. "There is another, younger, member of the Shiba family."

"Excuse me?" Lauren asked. "I don't think I heard you right."

"Yeah," Jayden said, half suspiciously.

"Jayden and Lauren have younger sibling. A sister. She would be about sixteen or seventeen."

"A sister?" Mia asked.

"There's more of them?" Mike asked. Everyone was too shocked to smack him.

"Yes."

"Why are we just now learning this?" Lauren asked.

Ji sighed. "Well-"

"Wait how long have you known about this?" Antonio asked.

"A long time. Many years."

"Why?" Jayden asked. "Just why? How did we not know?"

"As you may, or may not know, Jayden and Lauren's mother walked out on their dad when they were very young. She said the samurai life was too much for her and she couldn't handle it anymore. "

Jayden's eyes widened. Lauren gasped. Antonio took Lauren's hand and squeezed it. This was apparently news to them.

"Years later there was a nighlock attack and by the time the samurai got there it was too late. Their mother was at the sight of the attack and was dying. But, before she died she told their father that he had another child. A girl. He asked where she was, but their mother didn't know. She'd given her up for adoption in order to protect her. After she died James was heart broken, but determined. He wanted to find this girl and bring her back, where she belonged. He assigned some people who are friends of the Shiba clan to track her down. Jayden and Lauren's mother had tried to protect this young girl. She'd left, because of her. Because she didn't want another one of her children pulled into the samurai world."

"That's not something she can just, decide!" Kevin said. "It happens if you're born into the family. Or not as the case may be."

"Thanks man," Antonio said.

"So why didn't he tell us?" Lauren asked.

"Because he didn't want it to be a distraction to you two."

"So why are we finding out now?" Jayden asked.

"I think she could be the reason the nighlocks want that school. People have been tracking her down, and have found her location is here in the city."

"What's her name?" Emily asked.

"We don't know. We don't even know what she looks like. The people trailing her have been following her paper trail, so to speak."

"So how are we supposed to identify her?" Jayden asked.

"Use your heads. You may have already met her and not even know it. She's most likely in the same grade as Mike, Emily, Antonio, and Jayden. Chances are very high she looks somewhat like Lauren and Jayden."

"Tiara," Jayden said.

"Who?"

"Tiara Sterling," Lauren said. "Her dad's a U.S. ambassador. She just moved back to the country from Japan."

"She does look like you guys," Kevin said. "Same brown hair as Jayden. Same blue eyes as Lauren."

"Same smile as Lauren," Antonio added.

"Her handwriting's the same as Dad's," Lauren said.

"It's Tiara," Jayden said. "She's not supposed to be Tiara Sterling."

"She's supposed to be Tiara Shiba," Mia said.

"This is an interesting turn of events," Mike said.

"How did the nighlocks find out about her?" Lauren asked.

"Unfortunately they got the information from a guardian at the Tengen Gate."

"They knew about this?!"

"Those guys know everything," Jayden muttered.

"Traitor," Kevin said.

"What now?" Lauren asked.

"We tell Tiara," Mike said. "I think this is information she'd want to know."

"Are you sure?" Jayden asked. "It's quiet a bombshell to drop on her."

"As much as I agree with Jayden, I'm afraid we have to tell her," Ji said. "For her protection, as well as others."

"There's one thing I still don't understand," Mike said. "Why are the nighlocks after her? She spent even know she's part of a samurai family."

"The nighlocks hate our family," Lauren said. "They just want to get her because they know she's related to us."

"That sucks."

"Yes. It does. But I suppose being despised by monsters is the price we pay for protecting the world."

-Samurai Ranger High-

"Hey little brother," Lauren said when she found Jayden sitting in the yard later that day. "What's up?"

"Just relishing the information that most of what I know about our family is a lie."

"Join the club," she said sitting next to him.

"I can't believe Mom left," Jayden said. "Dad always said she died."

"He wasn't lying. She did die."

"He forgot to mention she walked out on us."

"I know," Lauren said. "And we apparently have another sibling out there."

"I know." He sighed. "This is going to turn her whole world upside down, you know."

"I know," Lauren said nodding. "But we have to tell her."

"I like Tiara," Jayden said. "Guess this explains why I've felt protective of her."

"Instinctual," Lauren said. "I felt it too. Now I know why her face was so familiar when we first met her."

"Yeah."

"It'll be ok. Besides, maybe she'll be happy finding out she's a samurai. It'll make the fact she knows all these fighting techniques make more sense."

"Let's hope that's enough," Jayden said. "Tomorrow's certainly going to be an interesting day."


	38. Reaction

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Reaction

A/N: Hey! So here we go. Please read on! And review! Always remember to review! Oh and before I forget again, thanks and congrats to xxUglyDuckiexx for being the 100th reviewer! Yay!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

The next day the rangers stopped dead in their tracks when they saw Tiara talking to Brett in the school yard.

"Should we tell her now?" Mike asked.

"Now," Jayden said nodding.

"What do you nerds want?" Brett asked as Lauren and Jayden approached.

"We want to talk to Tiara alone," Lauren said.

"No way."

"We were asking her," Jayden said.

"Shut up, Shiba," Brett responded shoving him.

"Hey, don't push my brother!" Lauren exclaimed.

"Why not? He's a dork."

"Well he's my dork, so back off!"

"Hey! Guys chill!" Tiara said, intervening. "Brett I'll see you later. Ok?"

"Ok babe," he sais kissing her. He shot the red rangers one more contempt filled look before leaving.

"Such a charmer," Lauren muttered.

"What's up?" Tiara asked.

"We have something to talk to you about," Lauren said. "Can you come with us please?"

"Sure." She followed them out of the school gates and into the woods where the others were waiting. "Hey Antonio. Kevin. Their friends. What a up?"

Jayden and Lauren glanced nervously at each other. "Uh..we have some...news for you."

"Ok. What about."

Jayden sighed. "Your dad that you think is your dad, is your adopted dad. He adopted you. We know this because we're your biological family. Me and Lauren. The three of us have the same parents. Our mom left our dad and put you up for adoption. That's when Abassador Sterling made you a part of his family. But there's more. We're not from a foster home. The seven of us live together, but for a different reason. We're the power rangers. And we're samurai. You're a samurai. The nighlocks have been watching this school because they know you're related to us they want to hurt you. We came to this school because we wanted to see what they wanted, and now we know. It's you. They want you Tiara because you're a samurai like all of us."

The younger girl blinked. "Wha-" She leaned back against a tree trunk. "You're power rangers. And I'm a samurai."

"Yes," Lauren said. "I know it's a little hard to believe, but-"

"Oh no!" Tiara interrupted. "It's totally believable. Especially because you have no proof!"

"Tiara," Mia said gently.

"No! Look I don't know how in the world you found out I was adopted-"

"You already knew?" Mike asked.

"Yes! And I don't know if guys really are samurai, or power rangers, or what! But I'm not! You're wrong! Just...wrong!"

"Tiara we're not-"

"You are!" She exclaimed, cutting Kevin off. "You're all wrong! And crazy! You're all out of your minds!"

"Calm down-" Antonio began.

"No! You show up after I've known you for two weeks and just...say I'm related to you. Brett was right about you guys. You are psychos. All of you!"

"Tiara-"

"No!" She said sliding away from Jayden's hand. "Stay away from me! All of you! Don't come near me or I'll knock you into next week!" With that she took off running into the woods.

"Tiara wait!" Emily called.

"She took that well," Mike commented.

"She's just a little freaked," Lauren said. "It's understandable."

"Let's go find her before she gets hurt," Jayden said.

"Looks like no school for us today," Mike said as they followed their leaders.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Deker smirked at the rangers' obliviousness. Weeks of surveillance had turned up nothing as to who was the mysterious member of the Shiba clan. Now the rangers might as well have screamed it at the top of their lungs. How convenient of them to provide him with the undoubted knowledge that the girl was the one. Even better was when ran she off alone. He smiled and rose silently from where he'd been eavesdropping on them and followed her.

He found her resting in a tree about a mile back from where she'd left the rangers.

Her eyes became alert the moment she saw him. "Who..who are you?"

"Deker," he said as if that explained everything. "Come down quietly and I won't hurt you."

"Why?" Tiara asked preparing to jump down and run.

"Because. Now come along, little girl."

Tiara stood on her tree branch. She smirked and jumped from the tree over Deker's head so she was behind him. He spun around. "Make me."

Deker smiled. She was definitely a samurai. He had to admit most humans would've started running or climbing higher into the tree, or even yelling for help uselessly at this point. Her bravery was admirable. He unsheathed his sword and ran at the girl. She jumped to the side and rolled away. Deker stopped and faced her. He ran again, swing his sword, but she unslung her bag and used it as a shield. She tried to kick Deker's legs out from under him, but he easily avoided her.

He knocked her bag away and she opped backwards. He tried to grab her, but she swung down and popped up, punching him in the face. He had to admit attacking someone who didn't have a sword, with a sword, and not killing them, was challenging. He snagged her wrist, and she tried to free herself. He struggled to keep her still enough to knock her out.

"Let go!"

He grunted as she kicked him in the stomach. He snarled. "Enough!" He threw caution aside and sliced the girl's arm with his sword. She yelled in pain and her resistance lessened. Deker took the opportunity to hit her in the head. He let go as she fell to the ground. She held her arm and looked up at him, a little bit of fear showed in her eyes as she lost her resolve and fell unconscious.

Deker rubbed his eye. He had to admit. She was good. "No more underestimating teenage girls," he muttered as he picked his target up. "Let's find out why Serrator wants you so much," he said as he walked away.


	39. Some Explanation

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Some Explanation

A/N: Ello! So I haves another chapter. Sorry of its a bit rushed, but honestly it's the best I could do. Oh, and the little "fact" about katanas was made up by me. Not true. Anyways...please review after you read!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson." -Tom Bodett

As the rangers tried to track down Tiara they didn't know where to begin.

"How about we-" Jadyen was cut off when they heard a scream. "Tiara!"

The rangers followed the sound of her voice. They stopped for a minute and looked around.

"Is this it?" Mike asked. "There's nothing here."

"Jayden!" Emily said. She picked Tiara's backpack up off the ground. "She was definitely here."

"There's blood on the ground," Kevin said. "Doesn't look fatal though."

"Let's fan out and search the area," Lauren said. "She was just here so she couldn't have gotten far."

The others nodded and separated to cover more ground. Antonio started running so he could look faster. "Tiara!" he called. "Tiara where are you!"

"Tiara!" Jayden shouted. "Tiara!"

Lauren looked behind every tree and kept checking for tracks. "Tiara!" She was getting worried. _Perhaps we should've stopped her from running off. If anything happens to her- _She couldn't even finish the thought. Tiara was innocent of anything in their world. "Why do the nighlock have to chose her?"

-Samurai Ranger High-

Tiara's eyes fluttered open. She looked around and realized she didn't know where she was. Her arm still hurt, so it was hard to sit up. She saw the the one who had attacked her, Deker, was nowhere in sight. She stood up and leaned against the tree for support. The world spun a little. _They were right... Jayden and Lauren, and their friends. They were right. No! Stop. I have to focus on getting away first._

As she stumbled along it became apparent someone was following her. She picked up the pace. She had to be far away from there when Deker returned. She heard someone call her name. She didn't want to risk calling back though. Instead she ran towards the voice.

"Tiara!"

She smiled as she got closer. "Jayden!" She yelled with relief when she saw him.

"Tiara!" Jayden said running to her. She collapsed against him shaking, tears starting to fall down her face. "Tiara, are you ok?"

The young girl nodded, her voice failing her. They heard footsteps and looked up. Tiara shrunk smaller into Jayden Wehn she saw Deker. Jayden stood up and moved Tiara so she was behind him.

"Give her to me Red Ranger," Deker said evenly. "And I'll leave you and your friends in peace."

"No way," Jayden said.

Lauren and Antonio arrived on the scene. "Tiara come here," Lauren whispered.

Tiara wanted to, but her legs couldn't move. From the corner of her eye she saw Kevin and Mia arrive.

"Hand her over. Now."

"Make us."

Emily and Mia came from the other side and they all stood so that they formed a circle around Jayden, Tiara, and Deker. As soon as Jayden said make us they took their morphers out and flipped them open. Tiara didn't know what their morphers were, but she was smart enough to know that they were preparing for a fight.

Deker made a face. Taking out all the samurai world be a hindrance, and not to mention an annoyance. He knew if he attacked just the red ranger standing in front of him the others would jump in, and the girl might get killed in process. Then Serrator would really be mad. "Fine," he said in defeat. "But this isn't over."

"Of course it's not," Lauren said. She and Antonio moved so that Deker could leave.

After he did the rangers put their morphers away and Jayden faced Tiara. "Are you ok?"

She didn't say anything, but instead collapsed against him. Jayden gasped as she fell unconscious.

"We should take her to Ji," Kevin said. "So he can make sure she's alright."

Jayden nodded and scooped his younger sister up in his arms, then the rangers started making their way home.

-Samurai Ranger High-

To say Ji was surprised when the rangers arrived at the house with Jayden carrying an unconscious girl was an understatement.

"This is Tiara," Jayden said in explanation. "She ran off after we told her and Deker attacked her."

"Bring into the infirmary room," Ji said. Jayden set her down on a bed gently.

Ji shooed the rangers away, insisting they were in the way. He checked her pulse and her responsiveness. He cleaned the wound on her arm and put a bandage on it. He stepped back and studied her face. He smiled. She looked like James. He saw clear markers on her face that matched her father's. He nodded and pet her head gently before returning to the rangers.

"Is she ok?" Lauren asked.

"She's fine. Just in shock more than anything else."

"At least she's ok."

"Was it just me or Deker have a black eye?" Mike asked.

"She probably put up a fight when he attempted to kidnap her," Emily said.

"If she did that I'm impressed," Kevin said.

"Well she is related to Jayden and Lauren," Antonio said. "Pretty sure that automatically qualifies her for epic combat skills."

"True," Mike said. "Very true."

-Samurai Ranger High-

When Tiara woke up it was close to noon. She sat up and looked around, frowning. "Where am I?"

"Home," a man said from the doorway.

Tiara swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Where are Jayden and them."

"I sent them to school so people don't get suspicious."

"Oh. Who are you?"

"Where are my manners? My name is Mentor Ji. But you can call me Ji."

"I'm Tiara Sterling. At least, I thought I was."

"Having a little bit of trouble with what's going on?"

"Well...Yeah. My dad...or adoptive dad...He said I was adopted when i was very young. It was a closed adoption so they knew nothing about my birth family."

"I see. And then a bunch of crazy teenagers show up and claim to be your blood family and samurai power rangers."

"Exactly," she said smiling.

"I understand that all of this is hard to take in, but it's completely true."

"I guess so. Just pretty weird."

"I think you'll figure out there's no sense of normalcy here."

"Where is here? Where am I?"

"This is the Shiba House. We're the samurai live and train."

"Wow." She looked around.

"Are you hungry?"

"A bit."

"Come with me and I'll make you something."

"Ok," she said hopping off the bed. She looked around the house in amazement. Ji took a scenic route to the kitchen so she could see the house. "I haven't seen anything like this since I left Japan."

"Do you miss it there?"

"A little. I just felt very at home. Like I belonged there. But apparently I'm a samurai, so it makes sense now." Ji smiled. "Those katana," she said pointing too a couple of swords on the wall. "They're 18th century, right?"

"You have a good eye," he said approvingly.

"You can tell by the hilt length and curve of the blade. Later swords weren't as curved as those."

"I'm impressed," Ji admitted. "Which is not something I say often."

"My kendo teacher was spent an entire lesson teaching me about swords."

"Was he a good teacher?"

"He was great. Some of the kids in my martial arts classes thought it was strange I was so close to him."

"How so?"

"Well he's pretty far up there in age, but he was amazing. He knew so much, and not just about fighting. He used to go on and on about samurai and bushido."

"Really?"

"Yeah. He taught me all about traditional Japanese customs and traditions. Someday I hope to go back and visit him. He became like a second father to me."

"I'm sure he would love to see you again. It sounds like you were an attentive pupil."

"I tried to be. Even when I was tired I acted enthusiastic out of respect for him."

Ji was liking her more and more. "I'm impressed. Yet again. Twice in one day. I'm getting soft in my old age."

Tiara laughed. The went into the kitchen and Tiara sat down. "So do Jayden and Lauren own this house?"

"Yes. Their family has for many generations."

"Wow. What's going to happen now?"

"We can discuss it when the others get home. But for now, you can eat, and I can answer your questions about the rangers."

"How do you know I have questions?"

He smiled. "Just a wild guess."

-Samurai Ranger High-

A little bit after three the rangers came home. Jayden wanted to see if Tiara was alright. He smiled when he saw her in the living room with Ji. "Hey Tiara," he said.

"Hey Jayden," she said. She watched as the rangers gathered in the living room. "How's it going?"

"We could ask you the same thing," Jayden said. "How do you feel?"

"Fine. Just...still a bit shocked."

"I can see," he responded. She looked a little pale and tried, but curious at the same time.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you guys. I was just a little freaked out."

"It's ok," Mike said. "I wouldn't have believed us either."

"Really?"

"Yeah," Antonio agreed. "If someone told me I was descended from samurai, I think I'd a little shocked."

Kevin laughed. "That would make two of us."

Tiara smiled. "So what now?"

They all looked at Ji who sighed. "I'm afraid that now we have discovered what the nighlocks want we must take the proper precautions to keep Tiara safe."

"Meaning?"

"He means he'll have it arranged for you to come live here in the Shiba House with us," Lauren said.

"Oh."

Mia reached out and placed a gentle hand on her knee. "I know its a lot to understand, but this for you own good."

"And the good of others," Kevin said. "Other people including the man your staying with will be in terrible danger."

Tiara nodded. It occurred to her that the day had started out so normal...And now this. "What about school?"

"We'll take it one step at a time, but eventually you'll have to stop attending," Ji said. "Your being there endangers the other students."

"Besides," Mike said. "You're smart enough, you don't need school."

"And you can't tell anyone about us, or you," Lauren said.

Tiara nodded. "Ok."

"It'll be ok," Emily said. "You'll see. Don't think of it as the end of your life, just the start of something better."

"I'll remember that," Tiara said thinking that she wasn't entirely happy about her new situation at all.


	40. Permission

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Fourty: Permission

A/N: Hello, my people! I brings another chapter for your reading enjoyment! Please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson. -Tom Bodett

"You didn't have to walk me home," Tiara said to Jayden and Kevin.

"Sure we did," Kevin said. "The nighlocks could show up at any moment."

"True."

"Ji thinks it would be best if you move in to the house tomorrow. Just think of something to get you out of school," Jayden said.

"Ok."

"Why is this so hard to believe?" Kevin snapped.

"What?"

"I can tell you're still in shock about all of this."

"Well excuse me," Tiara responded rolling her eyes. "What am I supposed to be jumping for joy because I just found out that I'm a part of a family of samurai, and I have to live with a bunch of people I barley even know on top of it, and I can't even tell the one person in the world I consider family!"

Jayden smiled at the way that shut Kevin up. "It's ok," he told her. "You can be in shock all you want. We realize that we're not giving you a lot of time to adjust to this, don't we Kevin?"

The blue ranger nodded. "Yes."

Tiara smiled. "Glad you two think so."

"It'll be ok," Jayden said. "I promise."

-Samurai Ranger High-

When Tiara got home she made a beeline for her room.

"Not so fast," Peter said as she climbed the first stair. "I got an interesting call from the school today."

"You did?"

"Yes," her temporary guardian replied. "Something about you being absent today."

"Oh..Yeah. I was...meeting someone."

"Who? A boy? That poor-excuse of a person you call a boyfriend?"

Tiara smiled. "No, not Brett. I was meeting...my birth family."

"You're birth family?" he asked, interest peaking. "When did find out about them?"

"My birth siblings go to my school. I was with them today."

"Oh. Well were you doing anything specific?"

"Yeah. Um, I was thinking I'd like to live with them."

"Live with them? What did your birth parents have to say about this?"

"My...our parents aren't alive. They live with their guardian."

"Ah. I see. Well, it's not my decision, ultimately it's your dad's. I'm ok with anything you two decide is best for you."

"Thanks Peter," she said. "You're the best."

"I know I am."

Tiara was relieved she'd hurdles that first obstacle with ease, now all she had to worry about was her dad. She still had how he'd react. She threw her bag on her bed and collapsed next to it. It had been a long day. She sighed and sat up, looking around. She'd only been in this room a few months, and it showed. Her stuff was organized on a single bookcase. Her books in varying languages, trinkets and gifts from friends shed made in her travels, a small collection on porcelain dolls, and photos. Most of them were in her photo album, but a couple she kept on display. Her favorite had always been of her, her mom, and her dad when they'd first adopted her when she was 2.

She smiled. Part of her had always suspected it. She didn't look a thing like ether of them. Her brown hair and blue eye combo contrasted her dad's black hair and green eyes. Even her mom's dark blue eyes with her blonde hair were different. She dis t look like them. Not at all, but they were the family she knew. The parents that she could remember; even her mom who'd taken off without looking back. She heard her laptop beep and jumped to her feet and ran to it opening it up. She grinned when she saw a Skype call from her dad.

"Hey dad," she said answering it.

"Hey, Tiara," Ambassador Sterling replied. "How's it going?"

"Fine," Tiara lied. "Um...dad. There's something I want to talk to you about."

"What is it?"

"Well, see I met my birth family."

"That's great news. How did you find them though?"

"Well, they found me actually, and it was my birth siblings. Apparently my birth parents are dead."

"Oh, that's too bad."

"Yeah."

"What're your siblings like?"

"Like me," Tiara said carefully. "They like martial arts and such."

He laughed. "Must be a genetic thing then."

"You have no idea."

"I'm glad you get along with them."

"Yeah. Hey dad, what would you say if I told you I wanted to live with them?"

"Who? Your siblings?"

"Yes."

"I...I'm not sure what I'd say. Where did this idea come from?"

"Their guardian. He saw how well we got along, and how much we've bonded and, thought maybe it'd be good for us if we all lived together."

"Hmm. What did they have to say about it?"

"They thought it was a great idea."

"What do you think about it?"

She smiled, on the look out for any of his tricks. "I don't know. I mean, I like them. And I like the idea of being with my blood relatives. Plus I wouldn't be a bother to Peter anymore."

"What does he have to say about this?"

"He says it's up to you."

"I see." She could see the wheels turning in his head as he thought. She knew him well enough to know what he was going through. He was weighing the pros and cons of saying yes or no.

_"Always the sign of a good diplomat. Consider both your opinion, as well as your adversary's to have a well informed, and inarguable decision." _He'd always taught her about politics and how they worked.

"Ok. If you want to live with them, it's ok with me."

"Really?"

"Yes. You're a big girl, and very mature. I'm the one who encouraged you to be open to the idea of finding them, to which I remember you were against."

"Well, that was before I met them."

"Fair enough. I trust you. If this is what you want, well I should be the one to stop you."

"Thanks dad."

"You're welcome. Just change the name on the paperwork for now and we'll take care of all the big stuff later."

"Ok."

"You ok? You look tired?"

"Just nervous I guess. It's all very...fast."

"Well so was our time in Ukraine, but you enjoyed that."

"Well..."

He laughed. "I have to go. Well talk later, ok?"

"Ok. Night dad. I love you."

"I love you too. Sleep well my little samurai," he said signing off with his nickname for her.

Tiara ended the chat and sat back in her chair. She was happy she'd gotten him to say yes, and without lying. _Just with holding information. I'm not supposed to tell. And besides, if this is as dangerous as it sounds I don't want him_ involved. She sighed and stood up. Maybe she could get some homework done tonight.


	41. Moving Day pt 1

Disclaimer: I don't own them, Saban does

_*Italics indicates thought_

Chapter Fourty-One: Moving Day pt 1

A/N: I'm back! I was busy all week with matching band and field hockey, and summer homework. Anyways, here's the new chapter! Please review!

"The difference between school and life? In school you're taught a lesson then given a test, in life you're given a test that teaches a lesson. -Tom Bodett

Tiara put her last book in its bag. One of the things she'd discovered was it was easier to move when her stuff fit into bags. All of her things were now packed in their respective duffel bags. She looked around the room. The walls were bare of any posters or pictures. The bookcase was completely empty. All of her breakable things were packed in with her clothes in the other duffel. Basically all of her stuff was in four big duffel bags. It was just easier.

She walked over to her desk and put her laptop in its bag, then did one last sweep of the room. She'd only lived there for a few months, but she was going to miss it. Upon glancing out the window she thought she saw something. She walked closer and looked out. She gasped quietly when she saw Deker standing outside. Thanking her luckily stars Peter was at work, Tiara backed away from the window like it was a portal to another dimension full of monsters. She glanced at her watch. _9:00. Jayden's not coming for another two hours._

Tiara swallowed her uneasiness and approached the window again. She wasn't sure wether or not to feel relieved when she found that the strange man was gone.

-Samurai Ranger High-

Two hours later Tiara was still feeling uneasy when the rangers arrived. She went back to her window for the millionth time and saw a black SUV pull up. She recognized the Shiba symbol from the ones in the house and went to meet them. She couldn't help but smile when she opened the door and found Jayden. "Hey Jayden."

"Hey," he said.

"Come in," Tiara said stepping aside to let him in.

"Thanks." He came in with Mike, Antonio, and Kevin right behind him.

"Mornng chica," Antonio greeted.

"Morning," Tiara replied.

"All ready to go?" Mike asked.

"Yup. My rooms this way." They followed her up the stairs to her packed and awaiting things.

"Every heard of boxes?" Mike asked when he saw the duffels.

"Trust me, this makes getting my stuff on a plane to a new country much easier."

"Just makes our job easier," Antonio said shrugging. He caught Tiara's eye and winked. He knew how it was finding ways to travel light.

"Let's get going," Jayden said. "Before nighlocks start showing up."

"Too late for that, Deker was outside earlier."

Jayden shook his head. "In that case let's go now."

"Okey dokey," Mike said grabbed a bag. He lifted it up and almost dropped it. "What do you have bricks in here?!"

"Books."

"Trade you," Antonio said laughing. "If the books are too much for the green ranger."

"As if," Mike said all macho like. "I've got this."

"Don't fall down the stairs," Jayden advised as he too grabbed a bag. Antonio grabbed one and Kevin took the last one.

"Let's get a move on," Mike said holding his with two hands. He threw it up a bit and caught it in his arms. "That's better."

"Move," Antonio said giving him a jab from behind.

"Badg getting heavy?" Mike asked teasingly.

"As if," an indignant gold ranger replied as they left. Tiara laughed, and a stotic Kevin followed them.

"Ready?" Jayden asked her.

"I guess," Tiara said grabbing her laptop. She stopped at the door and took one last look at her normal life room before leaving. She made sure to leave her key on the counter along with a goodbye to Peter, even though she'd said goodbye earlier that day. She walked outside and shut the door behind her. Jayden was just helping Mike put the last bag in. "That was fast."

"No. You just took a while," the green ranger answered.

"Let's go," Jayden said. He and Kevin for in the front while Tiara, Mike, and Antonio got in the back.

"Don't worry, Kevs a good driver," Antonio said.

"Why do you get the window?" Mike complained.

"Because I want to."

"Well why does she get the window?" Mike asked gesturing to Tiara.

"Becuase she's related to Jayden," Tiara replied smartly.

Jayden and Antonio laughed while Kevin smirked. "I like her," Antonio said nodding approvingly.

Tiara smiled and looked out the widow. The city boomed by as they headed for her new home. She glanced around the car. Mike was poking Antonio in an attempt to annoy him. The gold ranger in turn kicked him. Jayden was watching the road ahead of them and Kevin was quiet and focused on his driving. Tiara looked hack out the widow. She felt a little better being with the rangers.

-Samurai Ranger High-

The gates of the Shiba House opened as they approached. Kevin stopped the car right outside and the other three rangers got out with Tiara right behind them. They grabbed her bags, with Mike grumbling about the books again.

"Where's Kevin going?" Tiara asked as the he ranger drove off.

"To park the car," Mike said swinging his heavy bag or no his arms again.

"Where?"

"Dunno. Special garage somewhere near by I think."

"Oh." Tiara went to grab the fourth bag, but Antonio beat her too it.

"Allow me, Senorita."

Tiara smiled. "Gracias."

"Don't encourage him," Mike said as they walked into the yard.

Emily and Mia came out to meet them, Lauren right behind them.

"Hey Tiara," Emily said bubbling.

"Hi Emily. Mia, Lauren."

"Welcome to our home, well you home now too," Lauren said.

"Come on, we'll show you where your room is," Mia said. Tiara followed the girls into the house and to her room.

"Tada," Emily said having her hands.

Tiara smiled. _I'm guessing someone told them to be welcoming and excited. _"Cool."

Mike set his bag down dramatically. "I am not carrying that again!"

"As, was it too heavy?" Antonio teased as he set down the two he was carrying.

"No," Mike said evasivly.

"So you need help unpacking?" Mia asked.

"No, I git it. I'm a pro."

"Ok then. If you're sure."

"I am, but thank though."

"Alright," Emily said. The rangers left and Tiara shut the door. She faced her room and looked around. There was a window with a bed beneath it, and a couple of bookcases against one wall.

"Home sweet home. I guess," Tiara said as she started unpacking the first bag.


End file.
